QLogic to Implement Microsoft's RADIUS In SANbox2 Switches for Enhanced SAN Security.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

ALISO VIEJO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 2003

QLogic Corp. (Nasdaq:QLGC), the company that powers storage area networks (SANs), today announced plans to enhance security in its award-winning SANbox2(TM) line of switches by implementing the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) protocol, which is implemented in the Internet Authentication Service (IAS) component of Windows 2000 Server and the recently released Windows Server 2003. QLogic is working with Microsoft to broaden industry usage of Microsoft's RADIUS implementation.

"Microsoft is pleased to work with QLogic and the storage industry to proactively drive enhanced and simplified storage security management," said Rakesh Narasimhan, General Manager of the Enterprise Storage Division at Microsoft Corp. "With a standards-based approach, customers gain a more cost-effective and reliable means of securing SANs."

"Security is a primary concern in our product development process," said Frank Berry, vice president of marketing, QLogic Corp. "Bringing SAN security into the fabric will greatly simplify life for IT professionals in small, medium and large enterprises."

Internet Authentication Service is Microsoft's implementation of the IETF-standard RADIUS, a widely adopted protocol, in Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003. IAS through RADIUS standard protocol and domain integration with Active Directory helps administrators centrally manage network access policies based on group membership, time of day, type of access and more. With both standard and vendor-specific action support, IAS can push access controls to a broad variety of network access methods. IAS also simplifies access management and enhances network security.

"RADIUS serves as a trusted third party in a complete security strategy, providing access control, authentication and authorization across the entire IT infrastructure," said Robert Snively, chairman of the INCITS Technical Committee T11. "QLogic and Microsoft both serve on the INCITS Technical Committee T11 which is actively extending the security capabilities of Fibre Channel SANs to include authentication mechanisms that can be integrated with a RADIUS environment."

The IETF working group ANSI T11 acknowledges the need for a mandatory protocol for switch security and recommends RADIUS as an essential component for enhanced security. RADIUS, an IETF-standard protocol, is widely used today for authenticating, authorizing and auditing users and devices in a network to previously defined permissions, based on existing enterprise policy. The use of RADIUS in Windows Server for SAN security enables customers to integrate with existing enterprise security and to more easily implement a security model for users and devices.

QLogic SANbox2 switches make it easy for small and medium-sized enterprises to connect many new or legacy servers to shared storage devices, fully leveraging the power of SANs. QLogic SANbox2 switches enable high-performance switched storage networking at affordable prices while protecting investments in 1Gb equipment. With SANbox2 switches, businesses can easily build powerful storage networks that are interoperable with servers, networking equipment and storage subsystems. Certified with every major storage management application, SANbox2 switches are fabric-ready out of the box.

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Over 40 million QLogic products have shipped inside servers, workstations, RAID subsystems, tape libraries, disk and tape drives, delivered to small, medium and large enterprises around the world. Powering solutions from leading companies like Cisco, Dell, EMC, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Network Appliance, Quantum, Sony, StorageTek and Sun, the broad line of QLogic controller chips, host bus adapters, network switches and management software move data from storage devices through the network fabric to servers. A member of the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100, QLogic was recently named to Forbes' Best 200 Small Companies for the fourth consecutive year and was named to Fortune's 100 Fastest Growing Companies list for the third consecutive year. For more information visit www.qlogic.com.

Note: All QLogic-issued press releases appear on the company's web site (www.qlogic.com). Any announcement that does not appear on the QLogic web site has not been issued by QLogic.

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