ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Sept. 30, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- QLogic Corp. (Nasdaq:QLGC), the company that powers storage area networks (SANs), today announced an important milestone in an industry initiative to provide small businesses with easy-to-use storage networking solutions. Earlier this week, a three-day "plugfest," hosted by Microsoft and QLogic, brought together such leading storage array vendors as Accusys, Adaptec, EMC, Engenio, HP, Infortrend, NEC, Network Appliance and Xiotech for interoperability testing with Windows Server 2003 Virtual Disk Service (VDS) and SANsurfer VDS Manager. When combined, these products dramatically simplify storage management in a Windows environment by providing one user interface for any disk array.
"Until now, only larger enterprises have had SAN expertise and budgets to accommodate different array management applications from multiple vendors as they seek to consolidate their storage on SANs," says Richard Villars, vice president of storage systems research at IDC, a leading provider of global IT research & advice. "Solutions like Virtual Disk Service in Windows Server 2003 will make it simpler for small businesses and their reseller partners too manage networked disk arrays in the Windows environment."
About Windows Server 2003 Virtual Disk Service
As storage networks grow, many administrators find themselves adding storage devices from a variety of vendors. However, prior to the release of Windows Server 20031, the administrator could not configure these storage devices from within the Windows platform; instead, it was necessary to use a separate storage management application (and often a separate management console) for each vendor's storage array. For the storage administrator, this situation merely increased management complexity, since each vendor management tool uses its own terminology and interface
With Windows Server 2003, this situation is dramatically improved. The new VDS infrastructure simplifies disk management by enabling the administrator to use a standardized storage management user interface to manage both multi-vendor storage arrays and directly attached storage. The design not only alleviates the problem of multiple non-standardized management tools, but also enables administrators to obtain an aggregated view of all storage, and facilitates several solutions (such as extending disk space without administrator intervention) not previously possible.
About SANsurfer VDS Manager
Designed for simple SAN deployment, QLogic SANsurfer VDS Manager complements the Microsoft Windows VDS Command Line Interface (CLI) with a graphical user interface (GUI) for point-and-click array management including discovery of servers and multi-vendor disk arrays, configuration of RAID levels, and configuration of logical volumes. SANsurfer Management Suite with VDS Manager will ship with every QLogic HBA, switch and SAN Connectivity Kit for Windows 2003 and will be downloadable from www.qlogic.com.
Powered by QLogic
Since 1993, over 50 million QLogic products have shipped inside servers, workstations, RAID subsystems, tape libraries, disk and tape drives. These products were delivered to small, medium and large enterprises around the world. Powering solutions from leading companies like Cisco, Dell, EMC, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Network Appliance, Quantum, StorageTek and Sun Microsystems, the broad line of QLogic controller chips, host bus adapters, network switches and management software move data from storage devices through the network fabric to servers. A member of the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100, QLogic was named to the following during fiscal year 2004: (i) Fortune's 100 Fastest Growing Companies list for the fourth consecutive year; (ii) Forbes' Best 200 Small Companies for the fifth consecutive year; and (iii) Business Week's list of 100 Hot Growth Companies. For more information visit www.qlogic.com.
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Disclaimer - Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains statements relating to future results of the Company (including certain beliefs and projections regarding business trends) that are "forward-looking statements' as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied in the forward-looking statements. The Company advises readers that these potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the volatility of the Company's stock price; fluctuations in operating results; the dependence on the storage area network market; the ability to maintain and gain market or industry acceptance of the Company's products; the dependence on a limited number of customers; seasonal fluctuations and uneven sales patterns in orders from customers; the ability to compete effectively with other companies; declining average unit sales prices of comparable products; a reduction in sales efforts by current distributors; the dependence on relationships with certain silicon chip suppliers and other subcontractors; the complexity of the Company's products; sales fluctuations arising from customer transitions to new products; terrorist activities and resulting military actions; international, economic, regulatory, political and other risks; changes in semiconductor foundry capacity; uncertain benefits from strategic business combinations; the ability to maintain or expand upon strategic alliances; the strain on resources caused by rapid growth and expansion; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; the ability to protect proprietary rights or to satisfactorily resolve any infringement claims; changes in tax laws or adverse audit results; decreasing effectiveness of equity compensation in employee retention; charter documents and stockholder rights plan that may discourage a business combination; and facilities located in areas subject to earthquakes.
More detailed information on these and additional factors which could affect the Company's operating and financial results are described in the Company's Forms 10-K, 10-Q and other reports, filed or to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company urges all interested parties to read these reports to gain a better understanding of the many business and other risks that the Company faces. The forward looking statements contained in this press release are made only as of the date hereof, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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