McDATA and CNT Announce Post-Acquisition Business Model and Product and Services Roadmap.

BROOMFIELD, Colo. & MINNEAPOLIS -- Customers and Partners Benefit from Combined Expertise, Technologies and Market Leadership

McDATA Corporation (Nasdaq:MCDTA) (Nasdaq:MCDT) and Computer Network Technology Corporation, "CNT" (Nasdaq:CMNT), two recognized leaders in the storage networking space, today outlined the post-acquisition go-to-market strategy, combined roadmap and targeted business model during a conference call and webcast hosted by John Kelley, McDATA chairman, president and CEO; Ernest Sampias, chief financial officer for McDATA; and Tom Hudson, chairman, president and CEO of CNT. The combined roadmap provides solid direction for McDATA to more broadly address partner and customer needs with unmatched technology and services leadership and expertise across SAN, MAN and WAN environments.

The CNT acquisition further strengthens McDATA's Global Enterprise Data Infrastructure initiative, meeting customers' and partners' growing requirements for information lifecycle management, utility computing and on-demand access to information. McDATA's existing line of Intrepid(R) Directors, Sphereon(R) Fabric Switches, Eclipse(TM) SAN Routers and security and management software will be complemented by CNT's UltraNet(TM) extension products, their Replication Appliance and Matrix Switches, supported with professional and maintenance services.

"EMC has had long and successful relationships with both McDATA and CNT that have helped our customers build and deploy infrastructures for information lifecycle management. We look forward to continuing our work with the combined company and providing our mutual customers with some of the industry's most advanced storage networking solutions," said Tom Joyce, vice president, platforms marketing, EMC.

"We are very pleased with the acquisition, as combining McDATA and CNT, both trusted Hitachi Data Systems partners, will result in a technology leader with very competitive solution offerings," said Scott Genereux, executive vice president and general manager, Worldwide Sales, Channels, and Support, Hitachi Data Systems. "Our relationship with McDATA will continue to prosper as we move forward with our Application Optimized Storage(TM) solutions strategy. These solutions, integrating hardware, software and services plus best of breed networking components, such as McDATA's, will allow organizations to more closely align business and IT objectives."

"IBM has had a deep relationship with both McDATA and CNT. We are excited to leverage and benefit from the unified company to offer our customers an expanded portfolio of information on demand solutions," said Robert Mahoney, Business Line Executive Storage Networking, IBM.

"This is a good move for both McDATA and CNT. Both have been in business for more than 20 years, both serve Global-2000 accounts, many of which they share. They are both established storage players; the combined technologies will accelerate their ability to sell more complete storage solutions," said Randy Kerns, analyst for Evaluator Group. "This promotes McDATA's GEDI strategy and establishes a better positioned data infrastructure company with the breadth of products, services, and solutions to deliver to OEM partners and customers their shared vision of the optimized global data infrastructure. The acquisition makes sense both for companies, their channel partners and their customers."

For more information regarding the combined companies' offering and synergies, please listen to today's call. The call will be audio webcast live via the Internet at www.mcdata.com. A replay of the conference call will be archived for 30 days at www.mcdata.com.

About McDATA (www.mcdata.com)

McDATA (Nasdaq:MCDTA) (Nasdaq:MCDT) is the only data infrastructure solutions provider that can deliver a Global Enterprise Data Infrastructure -- a globally connected, centrally managed and highly optimized data network. With more than 20 years of storage networking experience, McDATA is trusted in the world's largest data centers, connecting more than two-thirds of all networked data and enabling information access anytime, anywhere.

About CNT

CNT is the expert in today's most cost-effective and reliable storage networking solutions. For over 20 years, businesses around the world have depended on us to improve business efficiency, increase data availability and manage their business-critical information. CNT applies its technology, products and expertise in open storage networking architecture and business continuity to help companies build end-to-end solutions consisting of analysis, planning and design, multi-vendor integration, implementation and ongoing remote management of the SAN or storage infrastructure. For more information, visit CNT's Web site at http://www.cnt.com or call 763-268-6000.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains statements about expected future events that are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. Readers are urged to consider statements that include the terms "believes," "belief," "expects," "plans," "objectives," "estimates," "anticipates," "intends," "targets," or the like to be uncertain and forward-looking. Factors that could cause actual results to differ and vary materially from expectations include, but are not limited to, our relationships with EMC, IBM and HDS and the level of their orders, aggressive price competition by numerous other SAN and IP switch suppliers, OEM qualification of our new products, manufacturing constraints, our ability to integrate CNT's operations with our operations and other risk factors that are disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These cautionary statements by us should not be construed as exhaustive or as any admission regarding the adequacy of disclosures made by us. All cautionary statements should be read as being applicable to all forward-looking statements wherever they appear. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

McDATA has filed a registration Statement on SEC Form S-4 and McDATA and CNT have filed a Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus with the SEC in connection with the proposed merger. The Registration Statement was declared effective by the SEC on April 19, 2005, and the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus containing information about McDATA, CNT and the proposed merger will be mailed to stockholders of McDATA and shareholders of CNT on or before April 25, 2005. Investors and security holders are urged to read the Registration Statement and the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus carefully in their entirety. The Registration Statement and Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus contain important information about McDATA, CNT, the proposed merger, the persons soliciting proxies relating to the proposed merger, their interests in the transaction and related matters. Investors and security holders can obtain free copies of these documents through the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Free copies of the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus may also be obtained from McDATA by directing a request by mail to McDATA Corporation at 380 Interlocken Crescent, Broomfield, CO 80021, telephone [phone], or from CNT by directing a request by mail to CNT at 6000 Nathan Lane North, Plymouth, Minnesota 55442, telephone [phone].

In addition to the Registration Statement and the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus, McDATA and CNT file annual, quarterly and special reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any reports, statements or other information filed by McDATA and CNT at the SEC public reference rooms at 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549 or at any of the SEC's other public reference rooms in New York, New York, and Chicago, Illinois. Please call the SEC at 800-SEC-0330 for further information on the public reference rooms. McDATA's and CNT's filings with the SEC are also available to the public from commercial document-retrieval services and at the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov.

McDATA, CNT, directors and certain executive officers of McDATA and CNT, Mellon Investor Services LLC and certain affiliates and employees of Mellon Investor Services may be considered participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed merger. Mellon Investor Services will be paid to solicit proxies in connection with the proposed merger. Certain directors and executive officers may have direct or indirect interests in the proposed merger due to securities holdings of McDATA and CNT, and consulting arrangements, service as directors and officers and rights to severance payments following the proposed merger. In addition, certain directors and officers, after the proposed merger will be indemnified by McDATA and will benefit from insurance coverage for liabilities that may arise from their services as directors and officers of CNT prior to the proposed merger. Additional information regarding the participants in the solicitation is contained in the Registration Statement and Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus filed by McDATA and CNT with the SEC.