Agilent Technologies Announces First Group of 'Tachyon Tested' Partners; Test Partners Include Many Fibre Channel Industry Leaders.

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 1999--

Agilent Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard Company, announces the first group of companies whose products have met the requirements of its Tachyon Tested SAN Solutions Interoperability Program. Those partners include Ancor Communications, Brocade Communications Systems, EMC, Gadzoox Networks, IBM Hard Disk Drive Business Unit, McData, Seagate Technology, StorageTek and Vixel. Additional companies will be added to the list of Tachyon Tested partners on an ongoing basis.

The Tachyon Tested SAN Solutions Interoperability Program helps system OEMs and system integrators to create interoperable solutions for the fast-growing storage area network (SAN) market, based on Agilent's Tachyon host adapters. Backed by a dedicated test lab, the Tachyon Tested program charter is to demonstrate compatibility between Agilent's PCI-Fibre Channel host adapters and a wide range of Fibre Channel hubs, switches, storage routers, storage arrays, hard disks, and other host adapters.

Agilent maintains a matrix of all Tachyon-Tested products and test partners on its Fibre Channel components Web site at www.agilent.com/view/tachyon_tested.

"Agilent is taking a leading role in the industry-wide effort to improve the interoperability of Fibre Channel products," said Julian Elliott, general manager of Agilent's High-Speed I/O Business Unit. "Agilent, working with its partners, is providing a strong foundation of interoperable Fibre Channel components for OEMs and System Integrators to build SAN."

Test partners provide their products to the Agilent Tachyon Interoperability Lab where engineers administer a series of rigorous tests designed to detect compatibility problems. SAN components that successfully interoperate with Agilent's Tachyon host adapters will be designated "Tachyon Tested" and can display the Agilent Tachyon Tested logo on marketing collateral.

About Tachyon Fibre Channel Host Adapters

The HHBA-5220 and HHBA-5221 are among the first 2 Gigabit-per-second Fibre Channel host adapters on the market today, designed for PC server and workstation platforms running data-intensive, high-bandwidth applications. The HHBA-5220 is equipped with a high-speed serial data connector (HSSDC) for use with copper media, and the HHBA-5221 is equipped with a small form-factor fiber-optic connector for use with optical media.

-0-

     Their feature set includes the following:

--   2Gb/s and 1Gb/s link speed support;

--   full SAN support (F-port and FL-port operation);

--   BIOS support (enabling booting from local storage, or across an
     arbitrated-loop or fabric SAN);

--   class 2 and class 3 support;

--   FC-tape support for high-speed tape backup; and

--   intra- and inter-cabinet connectivity (via an HSSDC connector).

-0-

The HHBA-5100/01 and HHBA-5121 are 32/64-bit, 33/66-megahertz (MHz) PCI to Fibre Channel host adapters optimized for SAN applications at 1GB/s link speed.

Agilent provides device drivers for leading operating systems, including the following:

-0-

--   Windows NT(R);

--   Windows(R) 2000;

--   Solaris X86;

--   Solaris SPARC;

--   Linux;

--   NetWare; and

--   UnixWare.

-0-

All Agilent device drivers employ interrupt-avoidance techniques that reduce the number of CPU interrupts to one or fewer per I/O operation -- freeing the host CPU to spend more time processing applications.

The HHBA-5100 and 5101 are available directly from Agilent, Avnet Electronics Marketing, and from Arrow Electronics. Agilent also markets the complete line of Tachyon Fibre Channel protocol ICs.

For more info on Agilent's Fibre Channel solutions, go to our Web site at www.agilent.com/view/tachyon.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies, Inc. is a diversified technology company, resulting from Hewlett-Packard Company's plan to strategically realign itself into two fully independent companies. With 42,000 employees serving customers in more than 120 countries, Agilent Technologies, as a subsidiary of HP, is a global leader in designing and manufacturing test, measurement and monitoring instruments, systems and solutions, and semiconductor and optical components. The company serves markets that include communications, electronics, life sciences and healthcare. The businesses comprising Agilent had net revenues of nearly $8 billion in fiscal year 1998.

Information about Agilent Technologies can be found on the Web at http://www.agilent.com.

Note to Editors: Windows NT and Windows are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.