New Software Upgrade Extends Performance and Speed in McDATA Eclipse Routers; Industry's Most Powerful and Cost-Effective Distance Extension Solutions Enhanced

Business Wire, Nov 14, 2005

BROOMFIELD, Colo. -- Faster, more efficient data throughput over any distance, substantially greater network performance and more reliable business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) solutions are available with a new software upgrade for Eclipse(TM) 2640 and 1620 SAN Routers from McDATA Corporation (Nasdaq: MCDTA)(Nasdaq: MCDT). This software upgrade allows Eclipse customers to improve SAN routing transfer speeds, gain capacity to effectively scale infrastructures, and take advantage of added management enhancements for more robust internetworking of Fibre Channel fabrics within a data center. E[acute accent]The new software upgrade delivers data routing transfer speeds that are up to 40 percent faster than the competition. This is possible through the combination of hardware-based compression, which increases data throughput, and McDATA's exclusive five-point Storage Optimized TCP (SO/TCP), designed to prevent the slowing of storage traffic over the network. E[acute accent]"Many factors affect storage over IP performance including the number of protocol layers, network congestion and the network transport technology. Because performance is so heavily dependent on the specific user configuration, it is important to have an arsenal of tools at one's disposal to optimize network parameters for each environment," said Tracey Bernett, a storage industry analyst working with Evaluator Group. "McDATA, with its extensive storage experience, has identified key parameters that may critically affect storage over IP performance. This new software upgrade expands McDATA's arsenal of storage-optimized TCP tools." E[acute accent]In addition to improved data transfer speeds, McDATA's new Eclipse software upgrade also provides customers:

E[acute accent]--Greater network stability and integrity when adding or removing Fibre Channel switches or routers to a fabric

E[acute accent]--Greater scalability by increasing the number of routed devices that can be attached to the fabric from 64 to 256

E[acute accent]--Greater security with SANtegrity Fabric Binding allowing administrators to reduce the risk of accidental fabric merges by authenticating which directors or switches can be attached to which fabrics in the SAN

E[acute accent]--Greater management capabilities and tools to simplify user configuration, such as interface upgrades that provide immediate configuration feedback, allowing users to analyze and eliminate network congestion in real-time

E[acute accent]"Connecting remote office locations and implementing business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) plans are increasingly required capabilities for SAN administrators," said Doug Ingraham, vice president of product management, McDATA. "In order to help customers meet these growing requirements, McDATA continues to improve upon its distance products, including the UltraNet(TM) extension line and of course, its Eclipse SAN routers. Both globally connect multi-protocol SANs and IP networking architectures with the highest performance in the industry to support customers needs for cost effective BC/DR and remote office data management strategies."

E[acute accent]About McDATA (www.mcdata.com)

E[acute accent]McDATA (Nasdaq: MCDTA)(Nasdaq: MCDT) is the leading provider of storage networking solutions, helping customers build, globally connect, optimize and centrally manage data infrastructures across SAN, MAN and WAN environments. With nearly 25 years' experience developing SAN products, services and solutions, McDATA is the trusted partner in the world's largest data centers, connecting more than two-thirds of all networked data.

E[acute accent]Forward-Looking Statements

E[acute accent]This press release contains statements about expected future events that are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. Readers are urged to consider statements that include the terms "believes," "belief," "expects," "plans," "objectives," "estimates," "anticipates," "intends," "targets," or the like to be uncertain and forward-looking. Factors that could cause actual results to differ and vary materially from expectations include, but are not limited to, McDATA's relationships with EMC, IBM and Hitachi Data Systems and the level of their orders, aggressive price competition by numerous other SAN and IP switch suppliers, OEM qualification of our new products -- such as the Intrepid 10000 Director, integration of CNT's sales and marketing functions, manufacturing constraints, constraints in obtaining third party product for resale and other risk factors that are disclosed in McDATA's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These cautionary statements by McDATA should not be construed as exhaustive or as any admission regarding the adequacy of disclosures made by McDATA. All cautionary statements should be read as being applicable to all forward-looking statements wherever they appear. McDATA does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.