Aruba Networks and Foundry Networks Collaborate to Supply the Federal Market With High-Security Wired and Wireless Solutions

Federal Customers Provided With New Choices for Indoor and Outdoor Deployments


SUNNYVALE, Calif. and SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 10, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aruba Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:ARUN), a global leader in wireless LANs and secure mobility solutions, and Foundry Networks(r), Inc., a performance and total solutions leader for end-to-end switching and routing, today announced a co-marketing relationship between the companies' wired and wireless LAN products for Federal customers. Common Criteria certification, FIPS 140-2 validation, and compliance with Department of Defense (DoD) Directives 8100.2 and 8500.2 make Aruba's adaptive wireless LANs both unique in the market and ideally suited for Federal requirements. Foundry's high-performance Ethernet products for edge-to-core data, voice and video applications feature built-in security protection and are tailored to Federal mission-critical deployments regardless of environment or traffic. When used together, Aruba's wireless and Foundry's wired products deliver a synergistic, best-of-breed solution with better performance, quality and capabilities than closed single-vendor offerings.

Foundry's comprehensive set of intelligent networking solutions offer a secure, resilient, scalable foundation for a new generation of advanced applications in the Federal market. Foundry provides an extensive group of innovative features and technology to effectively create a toolbox for network managers to maximize the performance, manageability, security and scalability of their network infrastructure. By enabling business continuity to mission- and business-critical applications and services on the network, Foundry's solution offers Federal organizations an increased return on investment (ROI) and lower total cost of ownership (TCO) with their edge-to-core networking infrastructure investments.

"With more than eleven years of continuous networking innovation, Foundry remains focused on industry leadership through high-performance solutions that incorporate open standards and best-of-breed interoperability," said Franchesca Walker, director of enterprise solutions for Foundry's Enterprise Business Unit. "Since Aruba met key Federal certifications and is the only enterprise WLAN vendor on the U.S. Army Information Assurance Approved Products list, it is a good fit to bolster our significant Federal market presence. Through this marketing relationship with Aruba, we can now offer joint new and existing Federal customers an interoperable end-to-end networking solution that meets rigorous security requirements and delivers high performance no matter the application or environment."

Aruba's secure mobility solutions reliably deliver network access to roaming users and are widely used in Federal applications because of their compliance with rigorous government security standards. Common Criteria EAL-2 certificate certification is a mandatory prerequisite for many high-security applications and is often required in tandem with validation to Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-2 for cryptographic security and compliance with Department of Defense Directive 8100.2 and 8500.2 security policies for wireless technologies and layered protection, respectively. Aruba's compliance with these requirements enables the company to address a wide range of Federal applications.

"This collaboration affords Aruba and Foundry the opportunity to target a sizable Federal market in need of new and replacement secure networking infrastructure," said Keerti Melkote, Aruba's co-founder and chief technology officer. "We have steadily enhanced our suite of wired products, including wired remote networking technology, to complement our industry-leading wireless LANs. As Foundry's first wireless LAN vendor to be designated an Ironpowered Technology Partner, we're now in a unique position to co-market our products, together with Foundry switches and routers, across a broad range of Federal applications."

"Enterprises must break away from the view that the network is a complex, integrated system rather than a layer of individual building blocks," said Mark Fabbi, VP Distinguished Analyst at Gartner. "Moreover, it is perfectly acceptable to use one vendor in the core of the network while using another vendor at the edge. In addition, the selection of WLANs, application acceleration technologies and all voice applications should be independent, business requirement-focused decisions. Mixing a switch and or router implementation with a WLAN is a perfectly normal decision based on well-documented functional requirements."

About Aruba Networks

People move. Networks must follow. Aruba securely delivers networks to users wherever they work or roam. Our mobility solutions enable the Follow-Me Enterprise that moves in lock-step with users:



    * Adaptive 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi networks optimize themselves to
      ensure that users are always within reach of mission-critical
      information;
    * Identity-based security assigns access policies to users,
      enforcing those policies whenever and wherever a network is
      accessed;
    * Remote access solutions and fixed mobile convergence ensure
      uninterrupted access to applications as users move;
    * Multi-vendor network management provides a single point of
      control while managing both legacy and new wireless networks
      from Aruba and its competitors.

The cost, convenience, and security benefits of our secure mobility solutions are fundamentally changing how and where we work. Listed on the NASDAQ and Russell 2000(r) Index, Aruba is based in Sunnyvale, California, and has operations throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific regions. To learn more, visit Aruba at http://www.arubanetworks.com.

About Foundry Networks

Foundry Networks, Inc. is a leading provider of high-performance enterprise and service provider switching, routing, security and Web traffic management solutions, including Layer 2/3 LAN switches, Layer 3 Backbone switches, Layer 4-7 application switches, wireless LAN and access points, metro routers and core routers. Foundry's customers include the world's premier ISPs, metro service providers, and enterprises, including e-commerce sites, universities, entertainment, health and wellness, government, financial and manufacturing companies. For more information about the company and its products, call 1.888.TURBOLAN or visit www.foundrynet.com.

The Foundry Networks, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2756

Safe Harbor Statement

The foregoing may contain "forward-looking statements" which are based on management's current information and beliefs as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events made by management. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements by executives or spokespeople regarding Aruba and Foundry's positioning and potential plans. The forward-looking statements in this press release are only predictions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially. Aruba and Foundry assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Furthermore, no statements made by Aruba or Foundry in this press release, or information contained herein, may be deemed to constitute either an amendment of an existing agreement or an implied new commitment, promise or legal obligation by Aruba or Foundry to develop or deliver any specific product, feature or functionality. The development, release, and timing of any product, feature, or functionality described herein remains at Aruba and Foundry's sole discretion.

AirWave(r), Aruba Networks(r), Aruba Mobility Management System(r), Bluescanner, For Wireless That Works(r), Mobile Edge Architecture(r), People Move. Networks Must Follow(r), RFProtect, The All Wireless Workplace Is Now Open For Business, and The Mobile Edge Company(r) are trademarks of Aruba Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.


            

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