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Emulex Provides 4Gb/s PCI-X and PCI Express HBAs to Deliver High-Performance and Flexible, Multi-OS Cross-Platform Support for IBM System x Servers: Emulex Corporation, the most trusted name in storage networking connectivity, today announced that IBM will brand, sell and support Emulex 4Gb/s PCI-X and PCI Express Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs) for use in the IBM System x servers. Designed to work in a variety of operating system environments, the IBM-branded PCI-X and PCI Express HBAs from Emulex offer unmatched reliability while enabling seamless migration to higher performance SAN connectivity solutions. "The availability of Emulex HBAs for use with IBM System x servers marks an important new design win for us and helps validate the benefits of our unique architecture, performance and field-proven reliability," said Mike Smith, executive vice president of worldwide marketing, Emulex. "The Emulex 4Gb/s PCI-X and PCI Express HBAs provide end users with an array of robust, next-generation SAN connectivity solutions. Leveraging Emulex HBAs, which many customers have already standardized on throughout their data centers, helps extend the value of the SAN infrastructure and complement the full range of capabilities offered by IBM System x servers. The extension of Emulex HBAs for IBM System x servers reinforces our long-term collaborative relationship with IBM." Offering the only true single-chip Fibre Channel solution for the IBM System x family of servers, the Emulex LightPulse family of HBAs delivers superior reliability and performance in the most demanding enterprise environments. Building on these benefits, PCI-X and PCI Express HBAs from Emulex offer flexible multi-OS cross-platform support, which enables effective application across the maximum range of storage networking solutions, and unique management capabilities with HBAnyware. Integrated with IBM Director, HBAnyware simplifies storage networking management and provides the most seamless and efficient installs and upgrades available for Fibre Channel HBAs, resulting in critical time and cost savings. "Emulex 4Gb/s HBAs provide the additional performance required to support intensive data transaction applications, such as data mining and data warehousing, medical imaging and online transaction processing, while fully integrating into customers' existing 2Gb/s Emulex infrastructures," said Alex Yost, director of product management, System x, IBM Systems and Technology Group. "Enabling our customers to meet their current system requirements and scale for future high performance computing demands is integral to IBM's philosophy to provide innovation that matters." Emulex Fibre Channel HBAs -- Generations Ahead Emulex LightPulse HBAs leverage seven generations of advanced, field-proven technology, providing customers with the highest quality SAN connectivity solutions that the world's leading enterprises have come to rely upon. With a unique firmware upgradeable architecture, common driver model and centralized management tools for simplified installation and deployment, Emulex HBAs are simply "Generations Ahead" of competing solutions. The Emulex suite of Fibre Channel HBAs offers the following industry-leading features and benefits: -- Superior Quality and Reliability -- Field-proven, single-chip design with a combination of parity and other advanced error checking methods to validate the integrity of data blocks. -- Most Efficient Installation and Management -- Unique tools designed to automate installation and provide local and remote HBA configuration and management. The Emulex architecture allows complete independence of device drivers from HBA hardware and firmware, which translates into time- and cost-savings by eliminating the need to reboot during most configuration changes and providing compatibility across HBA generations. -- Maximum SAN Performance -- Experience superior full-duplex data throughput and I/O processing, ideal for real-world application environments. Dynamic Frame Multiplexing is another exclusive Emulex feature designed to consistently provide superior performance in mixed workload environments, such as disk and tape back-up. -- Fastest Diagnosis and Recovery -- Ensures fast and efficient SAN troubleshooting with comprehensive diagnostics, detailed event logging and tracing. -- Broadest Enterprise Deployments -- With the largest installed base of HBAs, Emulex SAN connectivity solutions are trusted by the world's largest, mission-critical enterprises.