Level 5 Networks Teams with Verari Systems to Accelerate Financial Services Applications; Joint Demonstration at Interop NY Showcases 4x Faster Transaction Rate

Business Wire, Dec 13, 2005

NEW YORK -- Level 5 Networks, the leading provider of high performance Ethernet network interface cards, and Verari Systems, the premier developer of powerful, platform-independent blade server systems, announced today that they are partnering to accelerate application performance on blade server clusters. The two companies will conduct a demonstration showing four times more transactional throughput than is possible with conventional Ethernet network interfaces in blade servers. Level 5 Networks and Verari Systems will unveil the innovative solution at Interop NY in booth #242 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, December 13-15, 2005.

The financial services industry is on the leading edge of computing and is actively deploying cluster technology similar to what is being used in High Performance Computing (HPC). To sustain a competitive advantage in the market, companies must be able to access, process and act on information faster than their competitors. Building productive high performance computing data centers using the "scaled-out" model of connecting cost effective servers together over a network boosts the performance of many applications and delivers the best price/performance. This model requires a high performance network to connect the servers in order to maximize the productivity of all the servers in the cluster. The combined power of Level 5 Networks EtherFabric Ethernet accelerator and the Verari Systems blades speed applications exponentially and provide customers with unbeatable price/performance.

"Wall Street financial institutions have been looking for network technology which significantly enhances application performance on server clusters," said Dan Karr, president and CEO of Level 5 Networks. "Level 5 Networks accelerates application performance while maintaining full compatibility with the existing Ethernet and IP network infrastructure. Preserving compatibility with existing applications, networks and operating systems allows companies to take advantage of the increased performance our product provides through a simple upgrade to the NIC in the server."

Accelerating Network Computing

The Level 5 Networks solution is an accelerated version of Ethernet that speeds transaction rates and computational throughput without expensive new hardware and complex software changes. Other non-standard high performance networking solutions, by contrast, require both hardware and software changes. By eliminating the server I/O bottleneck and liberating server compute power from inefficient I/O processing, Level 5 Networks elevates business productivity by enhancing data center performance. By optimizing the existing IT infrastructure, customers maximize the investment in the price/performance leading Verari Systems servers that support the transaction-intensive demands of financial services. The combined solution lets financial services firms conduct their research more efficiently and accelerates buy and sell transactions providing them with a competitive advantage:

--Accelerating the performance of existing financial applications enables financial analysts to reduce the time required to conduct research and create models and forecasts that have never before been possible

--High transaction rates provide competitive advantage in fast-moving global financial markets

--Full compatibility with proven IT standards removes the implementation risk, allowing simple integration into existing IT operations

--The combined Level 5 Networks and Verari Systems solution elevates business productivity by optimizing the investment in IT infrastructure and lowering the total cost of data center ownership

"The combination of high performance servers and the latest Ethernet networking technology provides the financial services and other industries with the ultimate high performance Ethernet-based server solution," said David Driggers, CEO of Verari Systems. "This announcement reaffirms Verari Systems' commitment to bringing groundbreaking technology to the market, to give our customers an edge on their competition."

About Level 5 Networks

Level 5 Networks is a leading innovator of high-performance Ethernet network interface cards (NICs). The company's EtherFabric solution accelerates application performance, and liberates server compute power which combine to elevate business productivity by optimizing the existing IT infrastructure. Using industry standard protocols, the Level 5 Networks high performance Ethernet NIC is fully compatible with existing applications and networking equipment. Through a simple upgrade to the server, Level 5 Networks accelerates application performance, reducing time to market and lowering the total cost of ownership of the IT infrastructure. To learn why many of the industry's leading companies are adopting Level 5 Networks' technology please visit www.level5networks.com.

About Verari Systems

Verari Systems, Inc. is the premier developer of powerful, flexible, and scalable platform-independent blade computing systems that are defining a new era in high performance utility computing for the enterprise data center. Enterprises such as Akamai, ConocoPhillips, Lockheed Martin, Lucasfilm, Ltd., Northrup Grumman, Qualcomm, Sony Imageworks, Veritas DGC and Walt Disney Feature Animation, as well as top universities and research institutions worldwide, are among the 4000 customers who have chosen Verari Systems' line of high density blade server clusters, rack-optimized servers and award-winning software solutions. To learn more about Verari Systems and its unique solutions, please visit www.verari.com or call (888) 942-3800.