San Jose, Calif. — May 5, 2004 — Alacritech® Inc., the innovator of data acceleration solutions that enable the highest performance and efficiency in networked systems, today announced a key distribution agreement with ACAL Storage Networking, Europe's leading independent storage networking distributor. ACAL Storage Networking's large network of value-added resellers and system integrators will now offer Alacritech's complete line of top-performing TCP Offload Engine (TOE) Network Interface Cards (TNICs) and iSCSI Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) to European companies that require highly efficient and resilient iSCSI SAN solutions.

“Alacritech's distribution partnership with ACAL Storage Networking, Europe's leading provider of SAN interconnectivity solutions, represents an important step in our strategy to leverage the top technology distributors globally to enable the broad availability and market adoption of our leading TNIC and iSCSI HBA products,” said Dale Geldart, vice president, Strategic Accounts, Alacritech Inc. “With Global 2000 accounts now beginning to deploy IP SANs using the iSCSI protocol, ACAL Storage Networking's expertise in Cisco, Brocade and McDATA storage networking products and iSCSI technology, combined with their comprehensive value-added services, will ensure best-in-class implementations for our mutual customers throughout Europe.”

ACAL Storage Networking will offer Alacritech's Gigabit Accelerators in both copper or fiber versions as well as Alacritech's new SES1001 iSCSI Accelerators. Alacritech TNICs and iSCSI HBAs are the only Accelerators to offer seamless hardware acceleration for the Microsoft® iSCSI Software Initiator and the critical resiliency and systems management functionality customers require. Based on Alacritech's patented SLIC Technology® architecture, the Alacritech SES1001 enables wire-speed performance and quadruple the transaction rate over all other ASIC-based iSCSI HBAs, and provides a highly cost-effective data acceleration solution for small-to-medium sized companies in Europe. To ensure interoperable IP-based SANs, all Alacritech Accelerators are compatible with all iSCSI storage targets that have received Microsoft's Designed for Windows® Logo qualification.

“ACAL Storage Networking has over 400 resellers and integrators throughout Europe and we represent only the leading manufacturers of storage networking connectivity solutions to our customers,” said Andrew Litherland, director, EMEA, ACAL Storage Networking. “As the only European distributor solely focused on Storage Networking solutions, we're pleased to offer Alacritech's top-of-the-line TNICs and iSCSI HBAs to customers that require proven IP storage solutions that are interoperable with a wide range of storage networking products. Alacritech TOE products enable ACAL Storage Networking to help accelerate NAS solutions for our partners.”

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 Accelerators are a complete line of Gigabit Ethernet and Fast Ethernet TNIC products based on SLIC Technology®, Alacritech's patented Data Path Offload (DPO) architecture. Alacritech's SLIC Technology supplements the TCP software control plane with distributed hardware data planes to maximize data movement through Ethernet-based networks. This revolutionary architecture is designed to maximize server and storage performance and efficiency. All Alacritech products offer industry-standard failover and link aggregation.

Availability
Alacritech's Gigabit TNICs and iSCSI HBAs are immediately available through ACAL Storage Networking's large solution provider network. For more information please call ACAL's European headquarters in the United Kingdom at +44 (0)1252 85 80 80 or visit http://www.acalsn.com for a complete listing of its European offices.

About ACAL Storage Networking
ACAL Storage Networking specialises in storage connectivity - no servers, no storage, just connectivity. This independence means that unlike some other distributors, ACAL Storage Networking supports heterogeneous infrastructures, independent of the servers and storage being supplied. ACAL Storage Networking carries the widest portfolio of best of breed storage connectivity vendors, so customers can be sure that the solutions ACAL Storage Networking recommend, are based on the best technology fit for end user needs. ACAL Storage Networking is a subsidiary of ACAL plc. With European offices and a comprehensive global presence, ACAL Storage Networking is in the perfect position to support resellers and integrators worldwide. ACAL Storage Networking is a member of SNIA-Europe.

About Alacritech Inc.
Alacritech Inc. is the world's leading supplier of TCP Offload Engine (TOE) solutions that enable the highest performance and efficiency in networked systems. Alacritech's complete line of Accelerators is based on the company's patented SLIC Technology to optimize data delivery in servers, network-attached storage and iSCSI storage devices. SLIC Technology, the basis of industry-accepted TOE solutions, ships in storage and server products worldwide. 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.

Press Contacts: