Cabletron Systems
| Company type | Public (before restructuring) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Networking hardware |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Founder | Craig Benson, Robert Levine |
| Defunct | 2000 (restructured) |
| Fate | Restructured into holding company with separate business units |
| Headquarters | Rochester, New Hampshire , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Craig Benson (co-founder) |
| Products | Networking hardware (Ethernet transceivers, hubs, routers, network management software) |
Number of employees | 6600 (1990s) |
Cabletron Systems, Inc. was a producer of networking hardware throughout the 1980s and 1990s, primarily headquartered in Rochester, New Hampshire, United States, with manufacturing plants located in Ironton, Ohio and Ireland.
History
Established in 1983 within a garage in Massachusetts by Craig Benson (who later served as Governor of New Hampshire) and Robert Levine, Cabletron expanded its operations and eventually moved to Rochester. At its height, the company employed approximately 6,600 individuals. By 1996, Cabletron had achieved sales exceeding US$1 billion. The company initially gained traction in the 10BASE5 Ethernet sector with offerings such as the ST-500 transceiver equipped with diagnostic LEDs and the LAN-MD test set, which addressed Ethernet maintenance and troubleshooting issues. Subsequently, they introduced modular Ethernet hubs like the MMAC-8 during the emergence of 10BASE-T, which provided high-density port configurations and incorporated the Prism Element Management System to simplify maintenance.
In its expansion into Layer 3 routing, Cabletron collaborated with Cisco to develop a router compatible with their MMAC-8 hub but soon advanced proprietary routing technologies independently. Confronted with difficulties competing in the low-end Ethernet market while simultaneously investing in advanced routing solutions, Cabletron restructured itself into a holding company in 2000 to concentrate on separate business units:
- Enterasys Networks of Andover, Massachusetts, which stemmed from Cabletron’s core product line. Enterasys later merged back with Cabletron Systems before launching an initial public offering in 2001. It was privatized in 2006 by The Gores Group, which subsequently merged Enterasys with Siemens Enterprise Communications, committing up to €350 million in investment.
- Riverstone Networks based in Santa Clara, California, created from assets acquired from YAGO Systems to penetrate the Switched Ethernet market. Riverstone was purchased by Lucent Technologies, then transitioned to Alcatel Networks; due to overlapping product portfolios, Riverstone was gradually phased out and ultimately liquidated.
- Aprisma Management Technologies located in Durham, New Hampshire, which held Cabletron’s original network management solutions built around the SPECTRUM software suite. Aprisma was acquired by Concord Communications, which itself was later bought by Computer Associates for $350 million.
- Global Network Technology Services (GNTS) from The Woodlands, Texas, a network installation and management company employing over 800 staff members but dissolved in 2001 following the dot-com bust and a decline in demand for network services.
Enterasys Networks became integrated into Siemens Enterprise Communications, continuing both production of networking hardware and support for Cabletron’s legacy products.
On September 12, 2013, Extreme Networks announced an agreement to acquire Enterasys Networks for $180 million.