STORAGE

QLogic, the leader in Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs), stackable switches and blade server switches, today announced that the QLogic SANbox 9000 Series core switch was selected by the editors of TechTarget's Storage Media Group as the Silver award winner in the Networking Equipment category of the "2006 Storage Products of the Year" Awards. TechTarget publishes Storage magazine and the SearchStorage.com web site. "For companies that don't need a $250,000 director switch, QLogic Corp.'s SANbox 9000 switch, with a starting price of less than $51,000, is designed exclusively for open-systems environments," said SearchStorage.com. "It can scale to 128 ports in a single 4u chassis, and accommodate any mix of 4Gb/sec or 10Gb/sec Fibre Channel I/O blades. In the opinion of our judges, the SANbox 9000 brings director-switch class features to data centers that previously didn't have the budget for such technology." Products were judged by the editors of the web site and publication in conjunction with teams of users, industry experts, analysts, and consultants. Judges evaluated more than 200 products introduced, upgraded, and shipped between October 27, 2005 and November 3, 2006. The judging panel selected Gold, Silver, and Bronze award winners within each product category. "We are extremely gratified that our new SANbox 9000 Series has been recognized by TechTarget's Storage Media Group with this Storage Products of the Year Award," said Jesse Parker, vice president and general manager, QLogic Switch Products Group. "Our customers have been giving the SANbox 9000 an equally warm reception, citing the performance, features and scalability that it delivers at a fraction of the cost of competitive director switches. All of this validates our mission to set an entirely new standard for ease-of-use and price-per-port in the enterprise."