Brocade and Ciena Team to Extend Power of Networked Storage; Collaboration Expands Enterprise Flexibility in Deploying End-to-End Connectivity Solutions for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Applications.

SAN JOSE, Calif. & LINTHICUM, Md. -- Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (Brocade(R)) (Nasdaq:BRCD) and Ciena(R) Corporation (Nasdaq:CIEN) today announced a plan to provide fully-tested Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions over Metro and Wide Area Networks (MANs/WANs). Based on each company's best-in-class connectivity technology, these solutions establish a new price/performance industry benchmark for SAN extension solutions used to support enterprise business continuity (BC) and disaster recovery (DR) applications.

The alliance provides enterprises with additional options to extend SANs using a wide range of MANs and WANs, and gives organizations the ability to implement BC/DR solutions with the best possible cost structure for each deployment scenario. By combining the market's leading 4 Gbit/sec SAN directors and switches from Brocade with Ciena's CN 4200(TM) FlexSelect(TM) Advanced Services Platform or CN 2000(R) Storage Extension Platform, organizations can implement high-performance links between remote sites while maximizing throughput and reducing WAN bandwidth costs. Customers can select the solution that best fits their requirements, and realize superior price/performance benefits in distance extension applications that utilize Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM), SONET/SDH and Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) technologies.

Ciena and Brocade's 4G Fibre Channel (FC) Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM) solutions are already deployed in networks operated by an international financial institution and a North American retailer, representing the industry's first 4 Gbit/sec Fibre Channel SANs multiplexed over the WAN. Utilizing Ciena's CN 4200 and Brocade's 4 Gbit/sec SilkWorm 48000 SAN director, the retail customer is load balancing multiple Inter-Switch Links (ISLs) between data centers on a single WDM system. Ciena's FlexSelect Architecture enables the densities by aggregating three 4 Gbit/sec channels per wavelength, versus two per wavelength with other solutions.

"Brocade has a long history of working closely with industry partners to provide best-in-class solutions and building blocks that help IT managers reduce cost and increase flexibility," said Tom Buiocchi, vice president of worldwide marketing and support at Brocade. "We are very pleased to team with Ciena to enhance our partners' ability to provide tested and validated connectivity solutions for disaster recovery and business continuity."

"Today's companies are increasingly focused on ensuring their networks are accessible and secure across wide geographies. The Ciena-Brocade solutions provide these enterprises the ability to cost-effectively extend their SANs for maximum performance and efficiency," said Jim Collier, senior vice president of worldwide sales at Ciena. "This relationship is a reflection of our commitment to serving enterprise networks, and will help both Ciena and Brocade meet the growing market demand for storage extension solutions."

Marty Lans, Senior Director of Storage Networking at EMC Corporation, which partners with both Brocade and Ciena, added, "In today's enterprise, the relationship between networking and storage often converges, making it a challenge for end users to select the appropriate solutions to ensure network reliability. Collaboration between leading storage and networking vendors like Brocade and Ciena is a positive step to help customers deploy an end-to-end solution for information lifecycle management using a high-availability network designed for business continuity and disaster recovery."

Brocade, the leading provider of 4 Gbit/sec SAN connectivity solutions, offers the industry's only family of directors and switches based on a common custom-chip architecture and single operating system. The enterprise-class platforms in this family support the industry's only frame-level ISL Trunking and Dynamic Path Selection to provide the highest throughput SAN connectivity across data centers or continents. Ciena, the network specialist, offers its FlexSelect Architecture, a standards-based network infrastructure solution that enables unprecedented flexibility, adaptability and manageability in automating delivery and management of any mix of services including Fibre Channel, FICON, ESCON, SONET/SDH, OTN, GbE, 10GbE and video. Utilizing the Brocade solutions in combination with Ciena's powerful platforms for MAN/WAN connectivity, organizations can achieve exceptional flexibility, scalability and investment protection for applications that rely on extended distance connectivity.

About Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.

Brocade delivers the industry's leading platforms, solutions, and services for intelligently connecting, managing, and optimizing IT resources in shared storage environments. The world's premier systems, server, and storage providers offer the Brocade SilkWorm(R) family of Storage Area Network (SAN) connectivity platforms as the foundation for shared storage in organizations of all sizes. In addition, the Brocade Tapestry(TM) family of IT infrastructure solutions extends the ability to proactively manage and optimize application and information resources across the enterprise. Using Brocade solutions, organizations are better positioned to reduce cost, manage complexity, and satisfy business compliance requirements through optimized use and management of their IT resources. For more information, visit the Brocade Web site at www.brocade.com or contact the company at [e-mail].

*Brocade, the Brocade B weave logo, Fabric OS, Secure Fabric OS, and SilkWorm are registered trademarks and Tapestry is a trademark of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States and/or in other countries. All other brands, products, or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of, and are used to identify, products or services of their respective owners.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation is the network specialist, focused on expanding the possibilities for its customers' networks while reducing their cost of ownership. The company's systems, software, and services target and cure specific network pain points so that telcos, cable operators, governments, and enterprises can best exploit the new applications that are driving their businesses forward. For more information, visit www.ciena.com.

Note to Ciena Investors

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-Q, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 2, 2006. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ciena's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.