ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Feb. 5, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- QLogic Corp. (Nasdaq:QLGC), a leading supplier of iSCSI host bus adapters (HBAs), today announced that its SANblade(r) 4050 Series iSCSI HBAs are the first in the industry to support VMware Infrastructure 3. VMware Infrastructure 3 allows customers to deploy virtual infrastructure pervasively with expanded support for iSCSI storage including iSCSI arrays from leading vendors. Optimized for virtualized environments, QLogic SANblade 4050 Series iSCSI HBAs complement VMware Infrastructure 3 by enabling high performance IP SANs and simplifying SAN management with boot-from-SAN capabilities.
"VMware has quickly risen as a major force in driving virtual infrastructure," said Amit Vashi, senior director of marketing, QLogic Computer Systems Group. "With hardware based iSCSI and TCP-IP offload and boot-from-SAN capabilities, QLogic SANblade iSCSI HBAs offer the first HBA solution of this kind for VMware environments connected to IP based SANs."
QLogic iSCSI Advantages
QLogic SANblade QLA4050 iSCSI HBAs offer high performance, low CPU utilization, and server connectivity directly to iSCSI storage or to iSCSI storage through an Ethernet network. These 1Gbps iSCSI-to-PCI-X HBA solutions offer several key features and benefits including:
* Offloading iSCSI + TCP/IP Processing -- SANblade iSCSI HBAs provide
access to a high performance iSCSI SAN without sacrificing server
performance. Interrupts, CPU utilization, memory bus utilization
and host bus access associated with iSCSI and TCP/IP are
significantly reduced by offloading the tasks onto the SANblade
iSCSI adapter. With iSCSI offload engines, fewer servers are
required to maintain application performance. Server CPU
utilization testing with typical applications and current servers
demonstrates that QLogic SANblade iSCSI HBAs can save 30 percent or
more of the server CPU. This can be a 100 percent improvement over
software initiator implementations. Recent testing by Network
Computing's Storage Pipeline magazine shows less than three percent
CPU utilization by QLogic iSCSI HBAs for large block tests.
* Broad Platform Support -- Realizing the cost and ease-of-use
benefits of iSCSI HBA standardization requires drivers for multiple
operating systems. Drivers for popular operating systems are
available for the QLogic iSCSI HBAs including Windows, Solaris,
Linux and VMware ESX Server.
* Boot from External Storage (SAN) -- Managing several operating
system "boot images" is a complex and time-consuming task for
system administrators. By consolidating operating systems on and
booting servers from external storage, changing, adding and
removing servers is easier and faster. The SANblade QLA4050
includes "boot-from-SAN" capability, enabling this cost and time
saving strategy.
About QLogic
QLogic is a leading supplier of high-performance storage networking solutions, producing the controller chips, host bus adapters (HBAs) and fabric switches that are the backbone of storage networks for most Global 2000 corporations. The company delivers a broad and diverse portfolio of products that includes Fibre Channel HBAs, blade server embedded Fibre Channel switches, Fibre Channel stackable switches, iSCSI HBAs, iSCSI routers and storage services platforms for enabling advanced storage management applications. The company is also a leading supplier of InfiniBand switches and InfiniBand host channel adapters for the emerging High Performance Computing Cluster (HPCC) market. QLogic products are delivered to small-to-medium businesses and large enterprises around the world via its channel partner community. QLogic products are also powering solutions from leading companies like Cisco, Dell, EMC, Hitachi Data Systems, HP, IBM, NEC, Network Appliance and Sun Microsystems. QLogic is a member of the S&P 500 Index.
Note: All QLogic-issued press releases appear on the Company's website (www.qlogic.com). Any announcement that does not appear on the QLogic website has not been issued by QLogic.
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: potential fluctuations in operating results; gross margins that may vary over time; revenues may be affected by changes in IT spending levels; the stock price of the Company may be volatile; the Company's dependence on the storage area network market; the ability to maintain and gain market or industry acceptance of the Company's products; the Company's dependence on a limited number of customers; seasonal fluctuations and uneven sales patterns in orders from customers; the Company's ability to compete effectively with other companies; declining average unit sales prices of comparable products; a reduction in sales efforts by current distributors; dependence on sole source and limited source suppliers; the Company's dependence on relationships with certain silicon chip suppliers; the complexity of the Company's products; sales fluctuations arising from customer transitions to new products; the uncertainty associated with SOX 404 compliance; environmental compliance costs; terrorist activities and resulting military actions; international economic, regulatory, political and other risks; uncertain benefits from strategic business combinations; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; recognition of compensation expense related to employee stock options and the Company's employee stock purchase plan; the decreased effectiveness of equity compensation; difficulties in implementing smaller geometry process technologies; the ability to protect proprietary rights; the ability to satisfactorily resolve any infringement claims; reliance on third party licenses; the use of "open source" software in our products; changes in our tax provisions or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income tax returns; computer viruses and other tampering with the Company's computer systems; and facilities of the Company and its suppliers and customers are located in areas subject to natural disasters.
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 does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
QLogic and the QLogic logo are registered trademarks of QLogic Corporation. SANblade is a registered trademark in the United States. Other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of the companies with which they are associated.