Contact Information: MEDIA CONTACT: Victoria McDonald Finisar Corporation (408) 542-4261 victoria.mcdonald@finisar.com
Finisar Delivers Industry's First Multi-Protocol, 6 Gb/s SAS/SATA Analyzer and Tester
Powerful Storage Test Tool Platform Meets Needs of Expanding SAS/SATA Market by Enabling High-Performance Correlation Across Devices and Protocols
| Source: Finisar
SUNNYVALE, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- March 1, 2007 --Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ : FNSR ), a
technology leader in fiber optic and test-and-measurement solutions for
high-speed data networks, today introduced the 6 Gb/s SAS/SATA (Serial
Attached SCSI/Serial ATA) analyzer and tester, which is incorporated into
Finisar's industry leading Xgig® testing platform. This comprehensive
testing platform provides critical monitoring, analysis, and testing of
products and systems for all major storage protocols including Fibre
Channel, iSCSI, and SAS/SATA. Xgig is the only platform that provides both
multi-protocol support and line rate monitoring up to 10 Gb/s.
Additionally, the tool offers enhanced triggering capabilities, data
tapping with nominal impact on signal quality, and a trace buffer of up to
16 GBs. These combined capabilities simplify both problem identification
and resolution, reducing design time and improving time-to-market.
SAS and SATA are emerging protocols which replace older disk drive
standards and are expected to grow into a multi-billion dollar hard disk
drive market. SAS replaces Parallel SCSI drives and SATA brings
cost-economies to desktop and server-class disk drives that are extremely
attractive. As networks become increasingly complex it becomes even more
critical to ensure that mixed SAN environments operate in a coordinated and
efficient manner. Introducing new protocols into existing Fibre Channel
SANs creates multi-protocol environments that increase network complexity
and make it exceedingly difficult for developers to identify and
troubleshoot problems.
The 6 Gb/s Xgig analyzer and tester allows developers to directly and
easily correlate interactions among the leading storage protocols, enabling
tracing of commands as they cross devices and protocols. Xgig's enhanced
triggering capabilities capture traces throughout the SAN, providing a
wider correlation to facilitate more comprehensive identification and
faster location of problem sources. Xgig then fine tunes the diagnostic
information collected, resulting in faster problem resolution. Xgig can
acquire SAS/SATA traffic with nominal impact on signal quality based on its
innovative data tapping technology, thus minimizing its intrusiveness on
SAN operations.
"We are excited to bring forward a break-through product that addresses
every major storage protocol at every line speed, including the latest 6
Gb/s SAS/SATA standard, in a robust, unified platform," said Paul Hansen,
vice president of marketing for Finisar. "Competitive test platforms can
typically support only a single storage protocol at a time, requiring a
separate analyzer for each protocol in use. This increases production
costs and lengthens overall design and development cycles. Our heritage and
expertise in high-speed serial protocols, and more importantly, the ability
to support multiple protocols in a single platform, provides our customers
with investment protection and a critical edge in today's competitive
environment."
The Xgig storage test tool platform with 6 Gb/s SAS/SATA analyzer and
tester is currently sampling. Orders can be placed now for delivery in May
2007. For more information about Finisar's proven solutions for storage
network testing and optimization, visit www.finisar.com or contact a
Finisar Solution Expert at 1.408.548.1000 or sales@finisar.com.
About the Growing SAS/SATA market
Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), the evolutionary replacement for parallel SCSI,
is an enterprise-class storage standard providing high performance and
durability and is expected to capture 35% of all hard disk drive (HDD)
shipments by 2008, according to IDC's Worldwide Hard Disk Drive 2006-2010
Forecast Update. Serial ATA (SATA), due to its cost-effectiveness and
compatibility with SAS, is becoming a key contender for enterprise
applications and will ultimately replace ATA devices on desktop and
notebook computers. SATA drives are expected to contribute 23% of the
total enterprise HDD market by year-end with growth to approximately 34% by
2008. Cumulative worldwide drive shipments will exceed 3 billion units from
2005-2010, according to IDC.
About Finisar
Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ : FNSR ) is a technology leader for fiber optic
components and subsystems and network test and monitoring systems. These
products enable high-speed data communications for networking and storage
applications over Ethernet Local Area Networks (LANs), Fibre Channel
Storage Area Networks (SANs), and Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) using
Fibre Channel, IP, SAS, SATA and SONET/SDH protocols. The Company's
headquarters is in Sunnyvale, California, USA.
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The statements contained in this press release that are not purely
historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements
regarding Finisar's expectations, beliefs, intentions, or strategies
regarding the future. All forward-looking statements included in this press
release are based upon information available to Finisar as of the date
hereof, and Finisar assumes no obligation to update any such
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from
those projected. These risks include those associated with the rapidly
evolving markets for Finisar's products and uncertainty regarding the
development of these markets; Finisar's historical dependence on sales to a
limited number of customers and fluctuations in the mix of customers in any
period; ongoing new product development and introduction of new and
enhanced products; the challenges of rapid growth followed by periods of
contraction; and intensive competition. Further information regarding these
and other risks relating to Finisar's business is set forth in Finisar's
Annual Report on Form 10-K and other interim reports as filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.