Jni driver linux

JNI Debuts Linux Driver for Fibre Channel HBAs

Business Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 2000

Leading Vendor of Host Bus Adapters Releases Driver for Red Hat Linux;

Driver Integrated into JNI's PC Server DriverSuite of Products

JNI Corporation (Nasdaq:JNIC), one of the leading vendors of Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs), today announced the debut of its software driver for Red Hat(R) Linux(R) running on JNI's Emerald(TM)-based FibreStar(TM) PCI bus HBA cards.

The driver, currently in beta, will be available during 1Q 2000 as part of a suite of integrated drivers introduced by JNI called the PC Server DriverSuite(TM). (See accompanying release on the PC Server DriverSuite.)

The driver operates under Red Hat Linux 6.0 and 6.1. The Linux driver offers the same enterprise-level feature set as all JNI drivers, including operating in all Fibre Channel topologies, point-to-point, arbitrated loop and switched fabric, the latter two being used for true Storage Area Network (SAN) implementations. The Linux driver also features a common code base with other JNI drivers to assure the same feature sets are implemented across all operating systems.

"Linux is the fastest growing operating system in percentage increase, and is being integrated into many of the types of applications we service today," said Tracy Crowe, director of marketing for JNI. "We have been able to take our vast experience in Solaris and enterprise-quality Unix environments and implement that in our Linux driver. As Linux continues to penetrate the SAN and enterprise markets, our driver will assure users the high-availability, mission-critical quality of our current drivers has been carried into our Linux driver."

Linux is predicted to be one of the key operating systems used in e-business systems, an important application for SANs in general and Fibre Channel in particular. Red Hat is the most widely implemented version of Linux used in enterprise-level installations.

Drivers

Drivers are a vital part of Fibre Channel HBAs, allowing them to run in system environments and topologies. Drivers facilitate all functions on a Fibre Channel HBA, including three significant areas: the operating system interface, SAN reliability and the bus interface.

JNI develops its own drivers using a common development code base for all supported operating systems/buses, including Windows NT(R)/PCI, Windows 2000(R)/PCI, Solaris(R)/SBus, Solaris/PCI, Novell(R)/PCI and Macintosh(R)/PCI. The result is a single driver for each JNI HBA that supports all Fibre Channel topologies and environments, including support for hubs and switches. Other HBAs may require up to seven different drivers per operating system to match JNI's single driver.

The common code base gives JNI the ability to quickly integrate important features and benefits for customers. This is especially important in many Novell environments, which will often be integrated into systems running Windows NT and Macintosh OS. In addition, JNI's common development code base means improvements made to one driver are also implemented to all other operating systems. Finally, the common code base makes it far easier to install the Fibre Channel network, since a single JNI driver works with all possible installations on any given operating system.

With this announcement, JNI now offers one of the broadest range of drivers for Fibre Channel HBAs, including those operating under Windows NT, Windows 2000, Solaris OS, Macintosh OS and Novell NetWare OS (also announced today.)

Pricing and Availability

The Red Hat Linux driver is compatible with most Emerald-based FibreStar PCI-bus HBAs. These include the FCE-3210, FCE-6410, FCE2-6410 and FCE2-6412. It will be available during 1Q 2000 for free via a download from an ftp link on JNI's Web site, www.jni.com, as part of the PC DriverSuite. A beta version will be given to qualified OEMs and development partners. Please check with a JNI representative for receiving a beta driver or confirming board compatibility.

To upgrade to JNI FibreStar boards that operate under the Novell driver or PC Server DriverSuite, please contact you local sales representative or contact JNI at 858-535-3121 or at www.jni.com.

About JNI

JNI Corporation is a leading developer and manufacturer of Fibre Channel hardware and software products that form critical elements of SANs. JNI developed some of the first commercially available Fibre Channel-based products and the company concentrates exclusively on the Fibre Channel market. Because of JNI's early and continuous focus on developing technology and products based on the Fibre Channel standard, the company has successfully developed a broad line of PCI bus and SBus-based host bus adapters, ASICs and software that provide increased bandwidth for data communications, increased distance for high speed data transmission, guaranteed data delivery and scalability to large numbers of network connections. JNI is headquartered in San Diego. The company began trading on the Nasdaq exchange in Oct. 1999 under the symbol JNIC. For more information on JNI and the company's products, visit the company's Web site www.jni.com.

JNI -- First in Fibre Channel(TM)

Forward Looking Statements

With the exception of historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These risks include the rapidly changing technology in the company's markets; the evolving industry standards and frequent introductions of new products and enhancements; the fact that the Fibre Channel market is at an early stage of development; the company's reliance on certain contract manufacturers, OEMs, distributors and key customers. These and other risks are discussed in the company's registration statement on Form S-1 and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

DriverSuite, FibreStar, FCE-3210, FCE-6410, FCE2-6410, FCE2-6412, JNI, JNIC and 'First in Fibre Channel' are trademarks or registered trademarks of JNI Corporation. Red Hat is a trademark of Red Hat Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Microsoft, Windows NT and Windows 2000 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. Apple and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer. Novell and NetWare and registered trademarks of Novell Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.