Crescendo Networks CN-5080E Satisfies ``Need for Speed'' in Network World's Landmark Application Front End (AFE) Test; Independent Tests Results Demonstrate Crescendo's Performance Dominance.

TEL AVIV, Israel -- Crescendo Networks, the global leader in application acceleration, today announced that its Maestro CN-5080E has been named as a top performer in the Network World independent multi-vendor test of Application Front End (AFE) solutions (web front-end devices).

Conducting one of the first extensive benchmarks of AFE products, Network World tested Crescendo's CN-5080E alongside comparable solutions supplied by Array Networks, Citrix/Netscaler, F5 Networks, Foundry and Juniper/Redline.

"Performance results from these rigorous tests indicate that Crescendo's CN-5080E outperformed the competition in nearly all categories," commented Yiftach Shoolman, founder and CTO of Crescendo Networks. "They also validate the benefits of our unique architectural approach, which is to distribute platform functionality between dedicated hardware resources," continued Shoolman.

"These benchmark results reinforce what our worldwide customer base has been communicating to us for some time, which is that the CN5080E delivers the best solution to their demanding data center performance needs," commented Adoram Gaash, Chairman and CEO of Crescendo Networks. "This clearly demonstrates the strength of our performance within the AFE space and positions Crescendo Networks for continued success in the global AFE market," continued Gaash.

The full Network World article, "Feeding the need for speed," can be found at www.networkworld.com/reviews/2006/011606-wfe-intro.html?review=wfe

Select excerpts follow:

--"Crescendo's CN-5080E is a screamer of a performer, turning in top results in many of our tests because of its use of custom hardware for content switching."

--"Crescendo's device did especially well here because of its use of hardware-based HTTP compression and forwarding, which made its response times among the lowest and most consistent across all tests."

--"If high performance is the criterion for selecting a Web front-end device, look no further than Crescendo's CN-5080E. Crescendo uses multiple network processors and field-programmable gate arrays to speed traffic delivery. The advantages of hardware-based acceleration clearly show in our tests: The CN-5080E delivered consistently low response times and high transaction rates, even as the number of users climbed."

"Even though the CN-5080E is a multi-gigabit platform and most of the tests were conducted in sub-gigabit environments, these findings demonstrate that our product can provide significant benefits for any application, regardless of its bandwidth needs," remarked Shoolman. "The benefits of our product become even more apparent in multi-gigabit application environments," continued Shoolman. "We are also proud that our solution is the most cost-effective in the AFE market."

About Crescendo Networks

Crescendo Networks is the global leader in application acceleration, delivering multi-gigabit performance and application assurance in its award winning Maestro application front end (AFE) product line. Crescendo's technology accelerates end-to-end application performance and intelligently manages server-side sessions to protect and optimize server and application resources, dramatically improving end user response times. Crescendo's robust and scalable hardware architecture makes it the only AFE that accelerates application content through simultaneous multi-gigabit connections allowing it to deliver connection management, SSL acceleration, data compression, DDOS protection and load balancing simultaneously, without performance degradation.

Crescendo has received numerous prestigious industry awards including Red Herring's "Top 100 Innovators," Network Magazine's "Most Innovative Start-Up" and "Best of Interop" at N+I Las Vegas May 2004. The most demanding web sites in the world, from California to Korea, employ the Maestro product line to accelerate their critical applications and to assure, optimize and protect their customers and servers. Crescendo is headquartered in Israel with U.S. headquarters in New Jersey and Chinese headquarters in Beijing. For more information on the most advanced AFE solutions available today and tomorrow, visit www.crescendonetworks.com