San Jose and Sunnyvale, Calif. - June 24, 2008
- Brocade® (Nasdaq: BRCD), the leader in data center
networking solutions, and NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP), today announced a
collaborative development effort that will enable data center
customers to more quickly and easily encrypt corporate data for
increased security and compliance. The collaboration will also
provide customers with simplified policy management and allow them
to protect all data in the data center.
Under terms of the agreement, Brocade and NetApp will integrate the
secure, scalable, and centrally managed Lifetime Key
Management™ solutions from NetApp with Brocade's fabric-based
encryption technology. As result, Brocade will resell the
NetApp® Lifetime Key Management appliance as part of its
fabric-based encryption switches and blades portfolio. Products and
technology that enable advanced data encryption and security are
important elements of the Brocade Data Center Fabric (DCF)
architecture, an open framework that helps customers enhance their
data center infrastructures for maximum security, performance,
flexibility, and investment protection.
Brocade is currently developing an innovative, high-performance
encryption and compression capability that will leverage the NetApp
OpenKey™ API, an open interface that allows third-party
security applications to integrate with NetApp's secure key
management framework. This provides a common tool for easier policy
management across encryption technologies. NetApp already has a
substantial list of Lifetime Key Management customers, which
include some of the industry's largest storage encryption
deployments by scale, and expects this to increase dramatically as
its new encryption platforms are adopted.
The combined technologies will provide an easy-to-use,
high-performance solution for increased protection of critical
corporate information. Additionally, the collaboration presents a
new approach to encryption of data at rest - a breakthrough in data
protection - making it feasible to protect all data in the data
center.
"With so many approaches to encryption receiving attention today,
the complexity of encryption itself can pose a risk. Fabric-based
encryption is one approach that can help reduce the complexity of
storage encryption," said Scott Crawford, research director,
Enterprise Management Associates. "Today, administrators may manage
different encryption for tape, appliances, applications, disk, and
more. Fabric-based encryption allows for a single, common method of
encrypting all types of data. By centralizing encryption,
fabric-based approaches can also centralize key management and
reduce its complexity."
The new approach will be significantly faster than today's
solutions as it will be based on Brocade's 8Gbit/sec DCF
architecture. For applications requiring data encryption, the
Brocade fabric-based solution will enable applications to perform
at full wire speed, and protect significantly more data in less
time without compromising application or user performance.
Additionally, the heterogeneous nature of Brocade fabric-based
encryption allows customers to support multiple data backup and
data storage solutions concurrently.
"As the cost and risk of exposing sensitive information continue to
rise, organizations must broaden their data encryption capabilities
across their data centers," said Ian Whiting, vice president and
general manager of the Brocade Data Center Infrastructure Division.
"Brocade recognizes that scalable, tightly integrated key
management is an essential component of a solid enterprise-class
data encryption solution. That's why we are partnering with
industry leaders in storage security, such as NetApp."
"NetApp is committed to multiplatform options for data encryption
and to simplifying the management infrastructure for keys," said
Tim Russell, vice president and general manager of Storage Security
Solutions at NetApp. "We have taken a leadership role to move the
industry toward standards and interoperability. We feel that
extending our work with Brocade is pivotal and demonstrates our
commitment to our relationship with Brocade."
About Brocade
Brocade is a leading provider of data center networking solutions
that help organizations connect, share, and manage their
information in the most efficient manner. Organizations that use
Brocade products and services are better able to optimize their IT
infrastructures and ensure compliant data management. For more
information, visit the Brocade Web site at www.brocade.com or
contact the company at info@brocade.com.
About NetApp
NetApp creates innovative storage and data management solutions
that accelerate business breakthroughs and achieve outstanding cost
efficiency. Discover our passion for helping companies around the
world go further, faster at www.netapp.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement Under U.S. Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These statements include a proposed business collaboration,
business plans and related assumption of customer results. These
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and
actual results could vary. Factors that could impact our ability to
achieve our goals include general economic and industry conditions,
including expenditure trends for storage and encryption related
products; our ability to deliver new product architectures and
products that meet market acceptance; our ability to design
products that compete effectively from a price and performance
perspective; and other important factors as described in NetApp,
Inc. reports and documents filed from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recently
submitted 10-K and 10-Q.
Press Contacts:
Media Relations - Brocade
John Noh
Tel: 408.333.5108
jnoh@brocade.com
Media Relations - NetApp
Ryan Lowry
Tel: 408.822.7544
ryanl@netapp.com