Alacritech Ships the SES1001 iSCSI Accelerator, the Industry's Top Performing, Lowest Priced iSCSI HBA

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 1, 2004--Alacritech

-- The Only iSCSI HBA to Provide Seamless Hardware Acceleration for the Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator; Independent Testing Through VeriTest Verifies Quadruple the Transaction Rate of Other ASIC-based iSCSI HBAs

Alacritech(R), Inc., the innovator of data acceleration solutions that enable the highest performance and efficiency in networked systems, today announced the availability of the Alacritech(R) SES1001 iSCSI Accelerator utilizing SLIC Technology(R), the basis of industry-accepted TOE solutions. Alacritech's new line of iSCSI Accelerators are the only iSCSI HBAs to offer seamless hardware acceleration for the Microsoft(R) iSCSI Software Initiator and the critical resiliency and systems management functionality customers require. The Alacritech SES1001 iSCSI Accelerators have been independently tested by VeriTest, the testing division of Lionbridge (Nasdaq:LIOX), and proven to provide performance, throughput and efficiency over other iSCSI HBAs tested. Competitively priced, the new iSCSI HBAs enable customers with the fastest, most efficient and cost-effective iSCSI interfaces for Windows-based servers available today.

"With the increased availability and growing customer adoption of iSCSI solutions for Microsoft Windows, users are demanding iSCSI HBAs with key resiliency and systems management functionality," said Joe Gervais, director of Product Marketing, Alacritech, Inc. "VeriTest conducted extensive testing of our new iSCSI HBA. The results confirm we've succeeded in offering a complete solution that incorporates the required functionality and the highest performance, and we're delivering it for the lowest price on the market."

Industry's Top Performing iSCSI HBA

The Alacritech SES1001 iSCSI Accelerator uses the company's proven SLIC Technology architecture to deliver unmatched iSCSI performance and efficiency. Alacritech commissioned VeriTest to test Alacritech's iSCSI HBA along with other shipping iSCSI HBA products. VeriTest results (http://www.veritest.com/clients/reports/alacritech/) confirmed the Alacritech product uniquely offers:

    --  Significantly higher performance than other high performance,
        ASIC-based HBAs

            --  Over four times the transaction rate

                --  Average 512 Byte bi-directional rate of 47,690
                    operations per second with 10% better efficiency

                --  Average 512 Byte read rate of 46,001 operations
                    per second with 42% better efficiency

            --  Higher throughput and efficiency 

                --  50%-59% greater average bi-directional throughput
                    for 64K and larger read transactions, with 130% -
                    240% better efficiency

                --  20% greater average read throughput for 64K and
                    larger read transactions, with 97% - 215% better
                    efficiency

    --  Highly resilient and reliable storage networking interfaces
        provided by industry standard Ethernet link aggregation and
        failover functionality. VeriTest testing confirmed the
        Alacritech iSCSI Accelerator seamlessly manages link failures,
        and is the only iSCSI HBA capable of properly recovering from
        link failures in under 10 seconds

    --  In-band networking support for device management of other
        iSCSI SAN and network switch devices

Alacritech SES1001 iSCSI Accelerator Unique Benefits

-- Accelerated iSCSI data delivery with an ASIC-based TOE

-- Seamless integration with the Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator

-- Only iSCSI HBA to offer hardware acceleration for the Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator

-- Simultaneous network support including in-band IP Storage Management protocol support with HTTP, iSNS and SNMP

-- Industry standard Ethernet link aggregation and failover

-- Highest performance iSCSI HBA on the market

-- Lowest priced iSCSI HBA on the market

"Alacritech's new SES1001 iSCSI Accelerator differentiates itself from all other iSCSI HBAs by providing transparency with the Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator and immediate recovery in failover situations," said Dianne McAdam, senior analyst and partner, Data Mobility Group. "Coupled with in-band management functionality and wire-speed performance, Alacritech enables a very attractive TCO for servers implementing IP storage today."

Broad Industry Compatibility

The Alacritech SES1001 iSCSI Accelerator utilizes the Microsoft iSCSI Software Initiator, maintaining interoperability with a growing number of leading storage hardware vendors who have qualified their iSCSI storage subsystems for use with the Microsoft Windows(R) operating system under the Microsoft Designed for Windows Logo Program. The Alacritech iSCSI Accelerator has achieved broad interoperability certification with leading IP storage solution providers including Cisco(R) Systems, EqualLogic(R), FalconStor Software, Inc., Intransa, McDATA(R) Corp., and SANRAD. Please see http://www.alacritech.com/html/030104interop.html.

About Alacritech Acceleration Technology

As systems and servers move increasing amounts of network data, new solutions are needed to solve both efficiency and throughput challenges. Alacritech Accelerators include Gigabit Ethernet and Fast Ethernet TNIC products and iSCSI HBA products based on SLIC Technology(R), Alacritech's patented Data Path Offload (DPO) architecture. Alacritech's SLIC Technology supplements the TCP software control plane with distributed hardware data planes to maximize data movement through Ethernet-based networks. This revolutionary architecture is designed to maximize server and storage performance and efficiency. All Alacritech products offer industry-standard failover and link aggregation.

Availability

The Alacritech SES1001 family of iSCSI HBAs support Windows Server 2003, Windows XP and Windows 2000 and is immediately available in both copper and fiber versions through Alacritech's channel partners. The SES1001T with a 10/100/1000 twisted pair interface has a suggested list price of $599.00 U.S. and the SES1001F with a 1000BASE-SX fiber interface has a suggested list price of $799.00 U.S. For more information, please visit http://www.alacritech.com.

About Alacritech, Inc.

Alacritech, Inc. is the world's leading supplier of TCP Offload Engine (TOE) solutions that enable the highest performance and efficiency in networked systems. Alacritech's complete line of Accelerators is based on the company's patented SLIC Technology to optimize data delivery in servers, network-attached storage and iSCSI storage devices. SLIC Technology, the basis of industry-accepted TOE solutions, ships in storage and server products worldwide. Alacritech is a privately held company based in San Jose, California. For more information about Alacritech and its products, please visit the company's Web site at www.alacritech.com.

Note to Editors: Alacritech, the Alacritech logo, SLIC Technology, SLIC Technology logo and Accelerating Data Delivery are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Alacritech, Inc. in the United States. Other marks belong to their respective owners.