COSTA MESA, Calif., Jan. 27, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Emulex Corporation (NYSE:ELX), the market leader in Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs) and a leading supplier of intelligent building blocks for next generation storage networking systems, today announced a new class of Fibre Channel host bus adapter (HBA) technology targeted specifically at the small- and medium-sized business (SMB) market. Emulex is currently sampling products to select OEM partners and is expected to begin production shipments as early as next quarter.
The new Emulex LightPulse LP101 HBA delivers affordable, easy-to-use Fibre Channel connectivity, making it practical for SMB organizations to deploy low-cost servers and storage arrays in a storage area network (SAN) environment. Installation of a storage area network, utilizing the Emulex LP101 for reliable connectivity, enables small- and medium-sized businesses to centrally manage data, utilize high-speed tape backup, and enjoy reduced storage costs through more efficient, shared utilization of disk storage resources.
"Emulex is pioneering the delivery of low-cost, simple to use Fibre Channel SAN solutions to the SMB market, and is working closely with its market-leading OEM customers to ensure deployment of solutions next quarter," said Mike Smith, executive vice president of worldwide marketing, Emulex Corp. "The new Emulex LightPulse LP101, the first in a new product class of SMB solutions, is ideal for users who want a scalable storage environment without the complexities of enterprise-class applications." According to leading analyst firm, The Gartner Group, Fibre Channel deployment in the sub-$5000 server category is virtually non-existent today, yet this category accounts for 80 percent of all server units, or nearly 4 million per year. Consequently, this sector represents a large untapped and incremental market opportunity for Fibre Channel SANs.
"The SMB market for SANs is ready to explode, and Emulex's plan for bringing simple-to-use Fibre Channel technology into untapped segments of the market positions them to capture incremental business opportunities," said Tony Prigmore, senior analyst, ESG. "Customers may take advantage of all the benefits of SANs, without the cost and complexity issues associated with enterprise-class installations, which is ideal for SMB end users. SMB customers will also benefit from leveraging Emulex's field-proven, reliable Fibre Channel connectivity solutions in a cost-effective, small- to medium-sized business environment."
Featuring a broad installed based of qualified drivers for multiple operating systems, including Windows Server 2003 and Windows 2000 environments, the Emulex LP101 HBA delivers trouble-free operation and robust performance. To ensure simplified installation and management, the Emulex LP101 HBA features its new "AutoPilot" suite created specifically for SMB end users. The Emulex "AutoPilot" suite offers a unique set of tools with an intuitive, graphical user interface that provide exceptional ease of use for SMB customers who may be unfamiliar with detailed SAN terminology and don't require the multitude of settings that are required in large enterprise installations.
Fibre Channel SANs enable centrally managed storage, which provides more efficient utilization of disk storage than is possible with direct attached storage (DAS), since the disk capacity can be allocated and re-allocated amongst the various servers and applications in use. Further, SANs enable high-speed tape backup, allowing businesses to protect an ever-growing amount of data on a regular basis. Fibre Channel SANs also eliminate the performance bottlenecks associated with DAS, allowing for maximum usage of the server CPU and storage arrays.
Using the Emulex LP101 HBA, small- and medium-sized businesses can enjoy the same benefits of SANs that larger enterprise data centers have realized for years. With few IT resources and, often times, little or no Fibre Channel experience, SMB organizations require SAN solutions that are easy to install, configure, and manage. By reducing the cost and complexity associated with traditional solutions, SMB users now have a low-risk entry point to field-proven Fibre Channel SAN technology from an industry leader, and a higher performance alternative to CPU-intensive iSCSI-based technologies. Emulex's LightPulse LP101 host bus adapter addresses end user needs by establishing new benchmarks for ease-of-use and simplified installation at unmatched price points.
Emulex LP101 Fibre Channel HBA
The new Emulex LP101 HBA is a PCI-X HBA designed to enable server connectivity to Fibre Channel SANs while providing the performance, connectivity, and features needed by the SMB market. Further, the LP101 leverages Emulex's widely used drivers for Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, Linux, and Netware.
Additional features to ensure the highest levels of simplicity include Emulex's "AutoPilot-Installer" utility, which walks the user through the installation process in a simple, step-by-step method. In addition, Emulex's "AutoPilot-Manager" provides a simple configuration and management tool for the LP101 HBA tailored specifically for SMB.
Ideally suited for the small, homogeneous SAN, the Emulex LP101 will be offered exclusively to OEM partners for integration into pre-configured, bundled OEM storage solutions tailed specifically for SMB requirements. The Emulex LP101 is part of a family of PCI-X HBAs that includes the LP1050 and LP1050DC HBAs, which provide increased performance, scalability, and specialized hardware features needed in midrange environments. The Emulex PCI-X HBA family also includes the high-end LP10000 and LP10000DC products, which provide the highest levels of performance and scalability for the widest range of enterprise data center computing environments.
About Emulex
Emulex Corporation is the world leader in Fibre Channel HBAs and delivers a broad range of intelligent building blocks for next generation storage networking systems. Emulex was named one of Forbes Magazine's 25 Fastest Growing Technology Companies, and ranked number 15 in Deloitte & Touche's 2003 Technology Fast 50.
The world's leading server and storage providers rely on Emulex HBAs, embedded storage switching and I/O controller products to build reliable, scalable and high performance storage solutions. The Emulex award-winning product families, including its LightPulse(tm) HBAs and InSpeedTM embedded storage switching products, are based on internally developed ASIC, firmware and software technologies, and offer customers high performance, scalability, flexibility and reduced total cost of ownership. The company's products have been selected by the world's leading server and storage providers, including Dell, EMC, Fujitsu Ltd., Fujitsu Siemens, Groupe Bull, HP, Hitachi Data Systems, IBM, NEC, Network Appliance, Quantum Corp., StorageTek, Sun Microsystems, Unisys and Xyratex. In addition, Emulex includes industry leaders Brocade, Computer Associates, Intel, McDATA, Microsoft and VERITAS among its strategic partners. Corporate headquarters are located in Costa Mesa, California. News releases and other information about Emulex Corporation are available at http://www.emulex.com.
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"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: With the exception of historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties. The company wishes to caution readers that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Those factors include the rapidly changing nature of technology, evolving industry standards and frequent introductions of new products and enhancements by competitors; fluctuation in the growth of Fibre Channel and IP markets; changes in economic conditions or changes in end-user demand for technology solutions; fluctuations or delays in customer orders; the highly competitive nature of the markets for Emulex's products; Emulex's ability to gain market acceptance for its products; the company's ability to attract and retain skilled personnel; the company's reliance on third-party suppliers. These and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are also discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its recent filings on Forms 8-K, 10-K and 10-Q.