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

SUNNYVALE, CA, Mar 01, 2007 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- 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(R) 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.

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.

Pricing and Availability
Gillaspy Associates solutions are currently shipping to leading-edge customers. Register on our website for a demonstration

For more detailed information, product configurations and pricing please contact Gillaspy Associates at 805-386-0700




Since 1997, Gillaspy Associates has built a solid reputation for developing strong relationships with our customers by providing quality solutions and ongoing support.

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