COSTA MESA, Calif., May 17, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Emulex Corporation (NYSE:ELX), the most trusted name in storage networking connectivity solutions, today announced that Sun Microsystems will brand, sell and support Emulex 4Gb/s PCI-X Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs) for enhanced storage-area network (SAN) connectivity. The Sun-branded Emulex PCI-X 2.0 single- and dual-channel HBA models (SG-XPCI1FC-EM4-Z and SG-XPCI2FC-EM4-Z) are now generally available for use with the Sun Blade(tm) workstation, Sun Fire(tm) and Netra(tm) server families, along with Sun StorageTek FlexLine storage solutions. With this announcement, Sun supports the full family of Emulex 4Gb/s PCI Express and PCI-X HBAs within the Solaris(tm) Operating System (OS), and Windows and Linux environments.
"Sun has expanded its line of world-class server and storage solutions significantly to meet the diverse needs of its customers, and teaming with Emulex to deliver high performance, reliable SAN connectivity solutions is critical to our deployment strategy," stated James Whitemore, Vice President of Marketing, Storage, Sun Microsystems. "Emulex is a valued partner throughout this migration to next generation systems, and its 4Gb/s HBAs provide our customers with the leading-edge solutions required for a seamless upgrade process."
The backward compatibility inherent in Emulex HBAs provides Sun customers with the flexibility to cost-effectively upgrade systems leveraging simplified management tools. With a large installed base of HBAs within the Solaris OS environment and a long-standing history of supporting mutual customers, this deal reinforces the strategic and collaborative effort between Emulex and Sun that began with its OEM relationship announced in July 2005.
The extension of this relationship to include 4Gb/s HBAs is critical for customers standardized on Emulex HBAs throughout the data center, especially as customers implement next-generation SAN solutions. The Emulex 4Gb/s HBA drivers are part of the Solaris OS, with a single HBA driver supporting all generations of Emulex and Sun-branded models. Also, Emulex provides the management, scalability and performance benefits that fully complement the robust features of the Solaris OS within SAN environments.
"Emulex and Sun are enabling our customers to both protect their existing SAN investments and seamlessly migrate to a 4Gb/s SAN environment," said Mike Smith, executive vice president of Worldwide Marketing, Emulex Corp. "Single-driver support for Sun-branded HBAs from Emulex also enables end users to continue enjoying the reliability, availability and serviceability they have come to depend on, without needing to replace previous investments."
Product Information and Availability
The new Sun-branded Emulex 4Gb/s HBAs (Models SG-XPCI1FC-EM4-Z and SG-XPCI2FC-EM4-Z) are now available from Sun and its channel distribution partners. The 4Gb/s drivers are part of the Solaris OS, with a single driver supporting all Emulex and Sun-branded models, enabling seamless migration to 4Gb/s.
The Sun-branded Emulex HBAs are also supported by Sun for Windows and Linux server environments, as part of Sun's Open SAN initiative. A major benefit for large heterogeneous data centers is Emulex's unique Universal Boot capability that allows end users to seamlessly deploy the same HBA across multiple hardware architectures and operating systems to enable FC boot from SAN. Additionally, Emulex is part of the Sun(SM) Partner Advantage Program and plans to leverage its various programs and benefits to provide sales support and education surrounding the benefits of standardizing on Emulex HBAs throughout the data center.
About Emulex
Emulex Corporation is the most trusted name in storage networking connectivity and a leading provider of critical building blocks for intelligent data center infrastructure solutions. The world's leading server and storage providers rely on Emulex award-winning HBAs, embedded storage switching, intelligent storage platforms and I/O controller products to build reliable, scalable and high performance storage and server solutions. Emulex ranked number 19 in the Deloitte 2005 Technology Fast 50 and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:ELX). 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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Emulex Safe Harbor Statement
"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. All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.
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