About FoundryNet

FoundryNet is an independent network engineering reference and an unofficial archive of Foundry Networks, the switch, router and load-balancer vendor that operated from 1996 until Brocade acquired it in December 2008. The site relaunched in September 2026 on the company's original domain, which had lapsed after the acquisition, been re-registered in 2019, and spent several years parked or hosting pages that had nothing to do with networking.

Editor. Ray Castellano edits every page. He spent the 2000s as a network engineer in university and service-provider environments where BigIron chassis formed the core, FastIron switches filled the closets and ServerIron pairs fronted the web farms, and he later decommissioned much of that equipment in favour of its successors. He writes the guides the way he wished the original documentation had been written: mechanism first, configuration shape second, failure modes third, with the show commands that prove which one you are looking at.

Scope. Four technology sections (load balancing, switching, routing, network monitoring) explain the features that Foundry hardware implemented, in vendor-neutral terms that apply to any equipment. One archive section records the company, its product families, its security advisories and its command line. The two halves are cross-linked because they serve one reader: an engineer who arrived from an old link, a search result or an answer engine, mid-task, and needs a precise answer.

Independence. FoundryNet is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Foundry Networks, Brocade Communications Systems, Broadcom, Extreme Networks or Ruckus/CommScope. Foundry Networks, BigIron, FastIron, NetIron, ServerIron, EdgeIron, SecureIron, IronPoint, AccessIron, IronView and IronWare are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only to identify the products discussed. The site does not host, mirror or excerpt the original documentation, datasheets or press releases; it explains their subjects in its own words and cites public sources.

Accuracy. Where a date, model detail or specification could be confirmed against a primary source it is stated plainly; where it could not, it is hedged with words such as around, reportedly or commonly cited, or omitted. Every page lists its sources. Procedures for legacy hardware are described as general shapes because commands and keystrokes varied by platform and software release; test on your own equipment before relying on them.

Corrections. If a page is wrong, incomplete or unclear, use the contact page. Corrections are applied with a dated note at the bottom of the page. Reports of dead legacy links that redirect to the wrong subject are especially welcome, because routing the old foundrynet.com addresses to the right page is the reason this site exists.

What the site does not do. No advertising, no affiliate links, no analytics scripts, no accounts, no newsletter. The only thing stored in your browser is the theme preference, and the privacy page says exactly that. FoundryNet is a reference, and it intends to stay one.