StorageTek Brings Brocade Next-Generation, High-Performance SAN Switch to Market Brocade SilkWorm 4100 Switch Enables End-To-End 4 Gbit/sec SAN Solution, Brings Flexibility and Ports On-Demand Scalability to FlexLine Family of Disk Arrays SAN JOSE, Calif., April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (Brocade) (NASDAQ:BRCD), the world's leading provider of infrastructure solutions for Storage Area Networks (SANs) today announced that StorageTek(R) (Storage Technology Corporation, NYSE: STK) is bringing its next-generation SAN solution to market. For improved storage productivity, StorageTek customers worldwide can now benefit from the high-performance, flexibility, and Ports On Demand scalability of the Brocade SilkWorm 4100 family of 4 Gbit/sec midrange SAN switches. "Our customers are looking for ways to maximize the value they get out of their SAN infrastructures," said Jay Seifert, senior manager, disk product marketing, StorageTek. "By offering the Brocade SilkWorm 4100, we're helping our customers gain the benefit of 4 Gbit/sec connectivity, with full backward compatibility to existing infrastructure. Coupled with our FlexLine(TM) high performance storage solutions, data center managers now have a new tool for data protection solutions." The Brocade SilkWorm 4100 switch is a key component in the complete end-to-end 4 Gbit/sec storage solution that StorageTek announced today (See StorageTek announcement, "StorageTek Increases Primary Storage Productivity With Introduction of 4Gb/s Solutions"). The full high-performance solution, including the new StorageTek FlexLine(TM) FLX380 storage system, can be seen at SNW booth #P1. With "pay-as-you grow" Ports On Demand capability, the SilkWorm 4100 provides flexibility for midsized organizations, where it can act as the core switch in a growing fabric, and for large enterprise applications, where it can feed data from the edge to a larger SAN director. Available in configurations of 16, 24 and 32 Fibre Channel ports, the SilkWorm 4100 features redundant and hot-swappable power supplies and cooling fans; hot-swappable SFP media; hot code loading and activation; and extensive enterprise-level security, fabric management, and ease-of-use features. Each of the 32 ports is auto-sensing for data link speeds of 1, 2, or 4 Gbit/sec, offering full forward and backward compatibility with the thousands of jointly installed StorageTek and Brocade SANs in place today. "Today's announcement with StorageTek underscores our seven-year relationship and illustrates how we bring best-of-class building blocks for information lifecycle management to the data center," said Tom Buiocchi, vice president of Worldwide Marketing at Brocade. "Both Brocade and StorageTek are committed to protecting the investment in SAN infrastructure with scalable solutions to meet the ever-growing demands of ILM and compliance regulations. About Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. Brocade offers the industry's leading intelligent platform for networking storage. The world's leading systems, applications, and storage vendors have selected Brocade to provide a networking foundation for their SAN solutions. The Brocade SilkWorm family of fabric switches and software is designed to optimize data availability and storage and server resources in the enterprise. Using Brocade solutions, companies can simplify SAN implementation, reduce the total cost of ownership of data storage environments, and improve network and application efficiency. For more information, visit the Brocade Web site at http://www.brocade.com/ or contact the company at . NOTE: Brocade, the Brocade B weave logo, Fabric OS, Secure Fabric OS, and SilkWorm are registered trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States and/or in other countries. FICON is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other brands, products, or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of, and are used to identify, products or services of their respective owners. StorageTek and the StorageTek logo are registered trademarks of Storage Technology Corporation. Other names mentioned may be trademarks of Storage Technology Corporation or other vendors/manufacturers. DATASOURCE: Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. CONTACT: media relations, Leslie Davis, +1-408-333-5260, or , or investor relations, Shirley Stacy, +1-408-333-5752, or , both of Brocade; or Wendy Lewis of FS Communications, +1-650-691-1488, or , for Brocade Web site: http://www.brocade.com/

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