NEWS BRIEFS

Austin, TEXAS — Microsoft Corp. and Giganet, Inc., a leader in VI-based data center networks, announced that Microsoft has selected Giganet’s high-performance Virtual Interface (VI) Networking products as the system area network for the new Microsoft Technology Center (MTC), opening on October 12, 2000 in Austin, Texas.

The MTC will offer a private eBusiness lab where firms can obtain hands-on application design, development, and testing assistance to bring their eBusiness solutions rapidly to market. Enterprises can easily replicate this scalable, reliable eBusiness environment into their Internet data centers. Giganet’s VI networks deliver the performance and scalability necessary for Internet data centers to meet the needs for on-demand application and data delivery. Giganet was also the data center network of choice in Microsoft’s first MTC, which opened in Waltham, Massachusetts in March 2000.

“The Microsoft Center in Austin will help companies improve their eBusiness operations by demonstrating how best-of-breed products like Giganet VI-based networks and Dell servers can optimize their technology infrastructure,” explained David Driftmier, practice manager, Microsoft E-Commerce Solutions Group. “The Giganet solution maximizes the ability of SQL Server 2000 and Windows 2000 to offer high performance connectivity.”

The Center’s environment is powered by Microsoft Windows 2000 and SQL Server 2000, and Dell PowerEdge servers, PowerApp appliance servers, PowerVault storage, and Precision workstations. The eBusiness lab relies on Giganet’s high performance VI networks to meet the rigorous information access demands of eBusiness applications. Giganet’s networks connect the Center’s application, database, and Web servers. Dell also offers Giganet’s VI based cLAN host adapters and 8 and 30- port cluster switches with its PowerEdge servers to help improve the performance and availability of interconnected systems.

“Dell partners with best-of-breed technology providers to deliver strong eCommerce solutions to the marketplace,” noted Gene Austin, vice president of worldwide marketing for Dell’s Enterprise Systems Group. “The combinations of Giganet networks and Dell servers provide customers with a high-performance, scalable system for their Internets, intranets, eCommerce and database applications.”

Giganet’s products provide the industry’s highest performance data center communications and enable the creation of plug-and-playVI-based networks – from two-to-hundreds of endpoints – that deliver on-demand scalability and unmatched availability in support of mission-critical enterprise and Internet applications. The VI Architecture enables very high-speed communications among servers, with ultra-low latency and low CPU utilization. Enterprises building VI-enabled SQL Server 2000, Windows NT 4.0, or Windows 2000-based data center networks with Giganet’s VI networks products also benefit from the on-demand scalability, delivering more data to more users, faster.

“Giganet VI networks, Dell servers, storage, and workstations, and Microsoft software provide Internet data centers with high performance, scalable eBusiness networks, giving customers a cost-effective and reliable infrastructure to deliver more data to more users faster,” commented Gareth Taube, senior vice president, Giganet, Inc.

Giganet is a leading provider of high-performance system and storage networks. Giganet networking products are based on the Virtual Interface (VI) standard. Internet applications and data running over Giganet VI-enabled networks experience greater performance and scalability, delivering more data to more users, faster. Giganet is a privately held corporation, headquartered in Concord, Mass. The company can be reached at http://www.giganet.com/ .

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