San Jose, Calif. and Nashua, N.H. — July 21, 2003 — Alacritech®, Inc., the innovator of data acceleration solutions that enable the highest performance and efficiency in networked systems, and EqualLogic™, Inc., provider of self-managing, iSCSI networked storage solutions for the mid-range storage area network (SAN) market, today announced full interoperability of Alacritech’s industry-leading TCP/IP Offload Engine (TOE) Network Interface Cards (TNICs) with EqualLogic’s iSCSI-based, modular PeerStorage™ Array 100E. Enterprise customers deploying an iSCSI solution using Alacritech accelerators, EqualLogic PeerStorage Array 100E, and Microsoft’s iSCSI software will benefit from a high performance storage management solution that provides maximum ROI in their IP-based SANs.

“Collaborating with Alacritech, a leading provider of TOE technology, meets our goal of ensuring interoperability with the top storage and networking component companies,” said John Joseph, vice president of Marketing, EqualLogic, Inc. “Alacritech shares our vision of providing the benefits of consolidated storage through high performance solutions that significantly reduce ongoing operational costs to make enterprise-class shared block storage viable for today’s tighter IT budgets.”

Alacritech’s high performance TNICs are based on SLIC Technology®, the company’s revolutionary TCP data-path offload architecture that transparently accelerates all TCP-based traffic including email, Web, file serving, file transfer, backup, and iSCSI storage. EqualLogic’s PeerStorage Array 100E is a RAID, block-level array that enables fast, flexible storage provisioning and automated, self-managing storage for as low as $0.012 per megabyte. Running in conjunction, the products allow simple IP-based storage management and efficient data delivery for a cost-effective, yet powerful means of reducing the complexity of storage administration.

“EqualLogic is clearly taking a leadership role in the iSCSI storage market. Together Alacritech and EqualLogic offer the ideal solution for companies looking to consolidate their DAS or extend their existing SANs into an IP-enabled environment,” said Kim Peyser, vice president of Sales and Marketing, Alacritech, Inc. “Customers implementing a PeerStorage Array, Alacritech accelerators and Microsoft’s iSCSI software will achieve optimum performance with a significantly lower cost of ownership for their storage networks.”

About EqualLogic PeerStorage Solutions
EqualLogic PeerStorage solutions deliver the benefits of consolidated storage in a modular, self-managing, IP-based storage area network that is affordable and easy-to-use, regardless of scale. By eliminating complex tasks and enabling fast and flexible storage provisioning, PeerStorage solutions dramatically reduce acquisition and ongoing operational costs and make enterprise-class shared block storage practical for the mid-range storage market. .

About Alacritech Acceleration Technology
As systems and servers move increasing amounts of network data, new solutions are needed to solve both efficiency and throughput challenges. Alacritech’s SLIC Technology supplements the TCP software control plane with distributed hardware data planes to optimize data delivery through Ethernet-based networks. This patented TCP/IP offload engine (TOE) architecture is the foundation of Alacritech's industry-leading TOE Network Interface Cards (TNICs) designed to accelerate data delivery.

Availability
Alacritech’s Gigabit Accelerators fully support Microsoft iSCSI software running on Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 operating systems, and are available today for $999 (copper version) or $1,399 (fiber version). The EqualLogic PeerStorage Array 100E is now available starting at $28,250 MSRP.

About EqualLogic, Inc.
PeerStorageTM solutions from EqualLogic, Inc. deliver the benefits of consolidated storage in a modular, self-managing, IP-based storage area network that is affordable and easy-to-use, regardless of scale. By eliminating complex tasks and enabling fast and flexible storage provisioning, PeerStorage solutions dramatically reduce acquisition and ongoing operational costs and make enterprise-class shared block storage practical for the mid-range storage market. EqualLogic is based in Nashua, NH. For more information visit http://www.equallogic.com or http://www.peerstorage.com

About Alacritech, Inc.
Alacritech, Inc., led by industry visionary Larry Boucher, was founded to provide data acceleration solutions that enable the highest performance and efficiency in networked systems. Today, Alacritech is the first and only supplier of TCP Offload Engine (TOE) Network Interface Card (TNIC) solutions. Alacritech’s complete line of high-performance server and storage accelerators is based on the company’s patented SLIC (Session Layer Interface Control) Technology to optimize data delivery in servers, network-attached storage and iSCSI storage devices. SLIC Technology, the first fully compatible and scalable TOE technology, is being delivered in the industry’s leading
storage and server products. Alacritech is a privately-held company based in San Jose, California. For more information about Alacritech and its products, please visit the company’s Web site at www.alacritech.com.

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