ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Sept. 5, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- QLogic(R) Corp. (Nasdaq:QLGC), the leader in Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs), stackable switches and blade server switches, today announced that its SANbox(R) Series Fibre Channel switches were named the winner in the Switch category of the 2006 Windows IT Pro Readers' Choice Awards.
"The 2006 Windows IT Pro Readers' Choice Awards continue our tradition of honoring products that our readers tell us are most worthy of recognition," said Kim Paulsen, group publisher of Penton Media's Windows IT Pro. "These are the hardware, software, and services that measure up where it counts most--in the businesses, agencies, and institutions that rely on them to deliver what they promise."
Readers were asked to vote on their product preferences in 12 broad technology categories. More than 5,200 readers chose the best among more than 750 products and services.
"This award means a great deal to us because our SANbox products were selected directly by Windows IT Pro readers, who use a wide variety of Windows solutions every day," said Jesse Parker, vice president of product marketing, QLogic Switch Products Group. "It's gratifying to be recognized by end-user customers for our efforts to design high performance, scalable switch solutions that can be installed in minutes and easily managed on the Windows platform."
The SANbox Family for Small Businesses and Enterprise Datacenters
With the SANbox family of multi-protocol, multi-layer switches, SAN administrators can deploy a common fabric infrastructure that extends from datacenter to branch office. With installation wizards and powerful management software included, SANbox products can be easily set up by technical generalists within minutes and tuned for maximum performance by SAN experts. Members of the QLogic SANbox family include:
-- SANbox 9000 Stackable Chassis Switches
The QLogic SANbox 9000 Series is a family of stackable
chassis switches for the datacenter core and distribution
layer. For maximum port density, a pair of stacked
low-profile 4u chassis support sixteen 4Gb switch blades
for a total of 256 ports. For maximum performance, the
SANbox 9000 can also support sixteen 10Gb switch blades
for a total of 64 ports. To handle the connectivity
challenges in the datacenter, the SANbox 9000 provides
iSCSI, FCIP and storage services blades for bridging,
routing and storage virtualization.
-- SANbox 8000 Storage Services Platforms
The QLogic SANbox 8000 Storage Services Platform is a
high performance, network-based platform for a variety
of storage services including storage consolidation and
continuous data protection. To support these services,
the SANbox 8000 can host a variety of storage applications
from leading storage software vendors such as CA, Revivio
and StoreAge.
-- SANbox 6000 Intelligent Storage Routers
The QLogic SANbox 6000 Series is a family of fast, but
affordable, iSCSI to Fibre Channel routers. It is now
economically feasible and simple to attach low cost
servers to high performance Fibre Channel storage in the
datacenter.
-- SANbox 5000 Stackable Switches
The QLogic SANbox 5000 Series is a family of highly
scalable Fibre Channel stackable switches. Because each
member of a stack is connected via a dedicated 10Gb stack
interconnect, the stackable switch architecture allows SAN
administrators to build large fabrics and not waste a single
switch port for inter-switch-links (ISLs).
-- SANbox 1000 SMB Switches
QLogic SANbox Express 1000 Series switches are the most
integrated and compact Fibre Channel switches ever built,
featuring 10 high performance 4Gb or 2Gb ports in a package
the size of a home router and they are just as easy to use.
"The IT pros who voted in this year's awards are tough, in-the-trenches critics," Paulsen continued. "They demand solid value and performance from the products they use and put those products to the test day after day," Paulsen concluded. "Readers' Choice award winners can feel proud that the products and services they develop have earned the respect and recognition of the IT world's most knowledgeable and exacting professionals."
About Windows IT Media
Penton's Windows IT Media, the largest independent Windows IT community in the world, includes flagship print publication Windows IT Pro. First published in 1995, Windows IT Pro is the editorial leader in its field and has a paid subscription base of 110,000. The magazine is published in 13 languages and has an international reach into 160 countries. Windows IT Pro UPDATE, the group's flagship email newsletter, is the only e-newsletter to make BtoB Magazine's Media Power 50 list.
Windows IT Media also includes SQL Server Magazine and MSD2D. SQL Server Magazine has 30,000 paid subscribers, and three email newsletters sent to more than 130,000 opt-in subscribers. MSD2D is a rich online information resource for IT professionals, with a focus on the software developer community. MSD2D has a robust product mix that includes a vertical search engine, Web sites, partner directories, email newsletters, trade show programs and Web seminars.
The Windows IT Media network has 2.5 million unique visitors to its websites each month, and over one million (gross) subscribers who opt-in to one or more of our email newsletters. Windows IT Media is the world's leading producer of custom roadshows, paid conferences and paid workshops for Windows and SQL Server IT professionals.
For more information visit: www.windowsitpro.com/pressroom, and www.windowsitmedia.com.
About QLogic
QLogic is a leading supplier of high performance storage networking solutions including Fibre Channel host bus adapters (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 server networking products including InfiniBand host channel adapters that accelerate cluster performance. 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. For more information go to www.qlogic.com.
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, the QLogic logo and SANbox are registered trademarks of QLogic Corporation. Other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of the companies with which they are associated.