ABIT and Cavium Partner to Bring Low Cost Security to the Server Motherboard.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 20, 2003

ABIT server motherboards integrate Cavium's NITROX(TM) processor

to slash the cost of security processing appliance platforms

ABIT Computer Corporation, a world-class motherboard manufacturer, and Cavium Networks, the cost and performance leader in security processing, today announced that ABIT's SI-1Ns server motherboard is shipping with Cavium's NITROX Security Macro Processor. ABIT's SI-1Ns is an Intel(R) (Nasdaq:INTC) Pentium(R) 4 processor based server motherboard. Cavium's NITROX is a family of single-chip security processing solutions with performance from 100Mbps up to 4Gbps with 1K to 40K RSA operations per second of IPsec or SSL protocol processing. ABIT's SI-1Ns motherboard will be used in 1-U rack mount appliances for a wide variety of security appliances, such as VPN gateways, Integrated Firewall/VPNs, SSL Webservers, SSL VPNs, Content Load Balancers, etc.

"ABIT has been a pioneer in bringing new functionality to the motherboard. We strongly believe that security will become a standard feature in server motherboards for PC based security appliances," said Edwin Lin, president of ABIT Computer Corporation. "We choose Cavium's NITROX Processor as our server platform security processor because of its unmatched flexibility, performance and price."

ABIT's SI-1Ns server motherboard has one Pentium(R) 4 processor, two integrated fast Ethernet controllers, graphics, onboard security processor and other standard PC peripherals. The ABIT SI-1Ns server motherboard has complete open source application level software support for VPN gateways and SSL Webservers. The ABIT SI-1Ns has Cavium's NITROX Lite CN1005 processor integrated on the motherboard that can process up to 400Mbps of IPsec traffic or 3,500 RSA operations per second. Cavium's NITROX processor family can switch between IPsec, SSL processing or do both with a simple software change.

"The integration of Cavium's NITROX Security Macro Processor on motherboards will bring affordable high performance security to the mass market," said Syed Ali, president and CEO of Cavium Networks. "We partnered with ABIT to introduce a wide range of world class secure server platforms targeting the exploding VPN and secure e-commerce applications."

With high performance Pentium(R) processors from Intel(R) (Nasdaq:INTC) and Opteron(R) processors from AMD(R) (Nasdaq:AMD), the use of standard server motherboard platforms as network security appliances is widely accepted by OEMs. By replacing current custom hardware designs with mass-market server platforms, security appliance OEMs plan to reduce their product cost while increasing product performance and flexibility.

"Bringing security to the motherboard is an exciting move by ABIT and Cavium to drive wide spread deployment of security," said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst of The Linley Group. "This announcement comes as little surprise, as Cavium's NITROX products offer excellent performance for both SSL and IPSec applications across a broad range of price points."

ABIT's product plans include multi-processor server motherboards with multiple Gigabit Ethernet controllers and Cavium's NITROX CN1120 processor. The NITROX CN1120 can process up to 1Gbps of IPsec traffic or 14,000 RSA operations per second. Off-the-shelf server motherboards with integrated Gigabit security will enable vendors to drastically reduce their existing hardware cost.

"With the demand of cost effective and ubiquitous security on the rise, integrating security on motherboards and server motherboards for security appliance hardware platforms is a popular trend," said Eric Mantion, senior analyst with In-Stat/MDR. "Today's announcement marks the beginning of a fundamental shift in how security appliances are built."

Pricing and Availability

The SI-1Ns is available today from ABIT Computer Corporation. For more information about pricing and buying the SI-1Ns contact ABIT directly via email at: [e-mail].

About ABIT

ABIT Computer Corporation designs and sells a complete family of award-winning motherboards and multimedia products that support industry-leading technology and provide leading quality and performance for system integration of computer components supporting a broad range of PC applications, such as for e-commerce, e-business, entertainment and education. Corporate headquarters are located in Taiwan. For more information visit the Company's web site at http://www.abit.com.tw.

About Cavium Networks

Cavium Networks is a semiconductor company focused on developing and manufacturing high performance security processing solutions that will enable the new Internet security infrastructure. Cavium's highly integrated, feature-rich NITROX families of Security Macro Processors deliver unprecedented performance in SSL based secure e-Business and IPsec based network security applications while significantly reducing the cost and complexity of deployment. Cavium Networks is headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley in Santa Clara, Calif., with an IC design center in Marlboro, Mass. For more information, please visit: http://www.cavium.com.

Product photos, datasheets and application notes are available upon request. NITROX(TM) is a trademark of Cavium Networks, Inc. Intel and Pentium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. AMD and Opteron are trademarks or registered trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.