QLogic Enclosure Management Solutions Selected by Compaq; GEM359 to Ship in Compaq Servers and Storage Systems

Business Wire, Oct 11, 2000

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 11, 2000

QLogic Corp. (Nasdaq:QLGC), the leading provider of enclosure management solutions, announced today that the GEM359 enclosure management controller chip has been selected by Compaq (NYSE: CPQ) for its servers and storage systems.

A fourth-generation product, the QLogic GEM359 monitors and manages all physical aspects of server and storage enclosure environments including fans, temperature, power supplies, LEDs and system intrusions. The GEM359 supports both the SCSI Accessed Fault Tolerant Enclosures (SAF-TE) and SCSI Enclosure Services Command Set (SES) specifications, making it ideal for both server backplanes and external storage enclosures.

"The GEM359's high level of integration gives us a single device which has the flexibility to manage many environmental aspects of Compaq's server and storage backplanes," said Ron Noblett, vice president, Server Storage, Compaq Computer Corporation. "For Compaq and its customers that means industry standard solutions at higher levels of integration, which translates to lower solution costs."

"The GEM359 is the most powerful and flexible controller we have developed to date. The experience we have gained in developing four generations of GEM controllers has gone into its unique design," said David Race, vice president and general manager of QLogic's Management Products Group. "As with previous GEM products, QLogic continues to seek ways to provide customers with the greatest possible flexibility in managing their storage backplanes and subsystems."

The GEM359 chip connects to either the SCSI bus or to the SFF-8067 ports on Fibre Channel enclosures and may be integrated with systems implementing the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI). The GEM359 also includes a utility that allows OEM customers to custom configure products without developing code, greatly improving their time to market. The controller can monitor four cooling fans and up to 14 disk drives.

About QLogic

QLogic Corporation (Nasdaq:QLGC) is changing the way the world views Storage Area Networks (SANs), serving OEMs, VARs and system integrators with the broadest line of SAN infrastructure components in the industry. With over 15 years of enterprise storage experience, the company delivers a full range of Fibre Channel switches, PCI host bus adapters, controller silicon and management chips for systems and peripherals, as well as the QLogic Management Suite of SAN management software solutions.

A member of the Nasdaq-100(R) Index, QLogic recently emerged on the Forbes 500 and Business Week 200 lists. QLogic is integrated in over 200 OEM solutions, including: AMI, Compaq, Dell, EMC, Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, INRANGE, Iwill, MTI Technology Corp., Quantum, Raidtec, Siemens, Sun and Unisys.

For more information about QLogic and its products, contact QLogic Corp., 26600 Laguna Hills Drive, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656; telephone: 800/662-4471 (sales); 949/389-6000 (corporate); fax: 949/389-6126; home page http://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.

Disclaimer -- Forward Looking Statements

With the exception of historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The Company wishes to advise readers that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Those factors include new and changing technologies and customer acceptance of those technologies; a change in semiconductor foundry capacity or conditions; fluctuations in the growth of I/O markets; fluctuations or cancellations in orders from OEM customers; the Company's ability to compete effectively with other companies; cancellation of OEM products associated with design wins; and reductions in the need for space and increased costs of operations due to facility relocation. Carrying additional expansion space may increase costs and adversely impact future earnings. These and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially are also discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its recent filings on Form S-3, Form 10-K, and Form 10-Q.

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