BELL MICRO AND LUCENT ENTER DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT FOR STORAGE NETWORKING PRODUCTS.

Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) announced recently that Bell Microproducts (NSDQ: BELM) has signed a wide-ranging agreement to distribute and support Lucent products and services, including the OptiStar EdgeSwitch, a high performance router that extends storage networking over metropolitan and wide area networks.

The agreement covers all markets in the United States and also calls for Bell Microproducts to distribute the full line of Lucent data networking and broadband access products including routers, VPN Firewall, WAN Access, Broadband (DSL) products, and a suite of IP Services. These products combine to deliver robust IP routing, remote access gateways and network security features to enterprises and services providers.

"With OptiStar EdgeSwitch, Lucent has brought to market a cost-effective way for our reseller customers to solve a difficult IT problem," said Phil Roussey, executive vice president, Enterprise Products at Bell Microproducts. "The BellMicro Solution Center and our field support team stand ready to provide the comprehensive design and back office support necessary to successfully integrate this technology into enterprise networks."

Protection of critical storage data from disaster often requires remote back-up and restoration capabilities, both of which are available when OptiStar EdgeSwitch is installed in a network. The OptiStar EdgeSwitch extends storage networking farther and faster than previously possible through the integration of optical, Internet and storage technologies in one small-profile, cost-effective box. It interconnects Storage Area Networks (SANs) and Local Area Networks (LANs) at data centers and enterprise sites over a high-speed optical network.

For example, using the OptiStar EdgeSwitch, data centers can transmit hosted customer data directly over long-distance, high-performance network backbones for off-site archival or disaster recovery. OptiStar EdgeSwitch also enables remote data replication between sites, managed storage and storage hosting. "Bell Microproducts is an excellent addition to our growing Global BusinessPartner program in the United States, and we're excited to have them on board," said Vince Molinaro, senior vice president for sales at Lucent Technologies. "Through this channel, enterprise customers will have access to some of the most advanced networking technologies available from Lucent and Bell Labs."

Among the data networking products included in the agreement are: the MAX TNT, APX 1000 and APX 8000 Universal Gateways, the Access Point IP Services Routers, the Lucent VPN Firewall Brick 20, 80, 201 and 3000and the Stinger DSL Access Concentrators.