NETWORKS

BLADE'S Rapid Rise Signals 2007 as the Year of the Blade Server: BLADE Network Technologies, Inc., the leading provider of network switching infrastructure for blade servers, announced its industry-leading 43 percent share of the rapidly growing Ethernet/IP blade networking market -- representing an 11 percent lead over its nearest competitor in shipments of network switches for HP and IBM blade server systems. Entering its second year of operations, BLADE has now shipped more than 100,000 Ethernet/IP blade network switches. BLADE celebrates its number-one market position in the blade networking market as the company enters its second year of existence as a privately held company on February 10, 2007. There are more than 2.1 million ports already deployed using BLADE switches providing Ethernet and IP connectivity to more than 500,000 HP and IBM server blades deployed in major enterprises around the globe -- signaling that blade servers are now ready for mainstream enterprise adoption. According to IDC, blade servers are the fastest growing sector of the overall server market, with revenues projected to surpass $11 billion by 2010. BLADE's recent introduction of the industry's first 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) switch for blade servers means that blade-centric systems can now be used for bandwidth-intensive and latency-sensitive applications like Web 2.0, IPTV, Video-on-Demand, Massively Multi-player Online Gaming, VoIP and High Performance Computing. "It is clear that demand for blade servers is growing and that customers are increasingly purchasing integrated blade server switching solutions that maximize network intelligence, availability and density," said Lucinda Borovick, Director Datacenter Networks, IDC. "By effectively bridging the gap between network and server staff through functionality and role-based management, BLADE Network Technologies will further the adoption of blade server switches." Formerly Nortel Networks' Blade Server Switch Business Unit (BSSBU), BLADE was established as a private company by Garnett & Helfrich Capital and Nortel in February 2006. BLADE switches provide high-performance Ethernet, IP and Application switching, including the industry's first native Layer 2-7 and 10 GE switches for blade server systems. "Our singular focus on blade network infrastructure -- combined with our rich Layer 2-7 software stack, value-added OEM business model and strong focus on delighting our customers -- has enabled us to achieve a market-leading 43 percent market share," said Vikram Mehta, President and CEO of BLADE Network Technologies. "I want to thank our customers, business partners, suppliers and BLADE employees for helping us become the most trusted name in blade server networking." BLADE concluded its first fiscal year of business operations on October 31, 2006 and celebrates its first anniversary as a private company on February 10, 2007. BLADE's milestones include: -- Life-to-date, more than 100,000 blade server switches representing more than 2.1 million switch ports provide connectivity to more than 500,000 server blades worldwide. -- BLADE shipments were up 32 percent in its fourth fiscal quarter compared to the same quarter in the previous year and up 36 percent year- over-year. -- Net cash was up 11 percent since the company's inception in February 2006. -- BLADE now has 92 employees, up from 42 in February 2006, with half in engineering, leading the company's innovation efforts. -- Leading unit market share of network switches for HP and IBM blade server systems (43 percent). -- First to ship integrated Layer 2-3 and Layer 2-7 switching for blade servers. -- First to ship native 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GE) blade server switches. -- Industry's best price-performance for blade server switches. -- Industry leader for highest-throughput, lowest-latency blade server switches. -- Interoperability assurance for customers' core network infrastructures. "BLADE's network switch technology has been a valuable component to our recently launched HP BladeSystem c-Class architecture and has contributed to the customer adoption that has exceeded our expectations," said Mark Potter, Vice President, BladeSystem Division, HP. "BLADE's success as an industry leader in this space has made them valuable to our HP BladeSystem Solution Builder Program, and with them we look forward to delivering additional blade technology innovations to our customers." "BLADE's ability to innovate quickly to meet customer needs makes them a leading network switch provider and an ideal partner in our worldwide BladeCenter blade server business," said Doug Balog, Vice President and Business Line Executive, IBM BladeCenter and Chairman, Blade.org. "IBM's collaboration with BLADE has recently resulted in another IBM blade server market first -- the industry's first native 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch for blade servers -- and we are confident that our continued BLADE relationship will result in more industry-leading technology innovations and solutions for customers of the world's most popular blade computing system, IBM BladeCenter."