Cisco Systems to Acquire Topspin Communications

Press Release

Broadens Data Center Portfolio with Server Fabric Switches, InfiniBand Technology, and Server Virtualization Software.

SAN JOSE, Calif.: Cisco Systems®, on April 14, 2005, announced a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Topspin Communications, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif. Topspin is the leading provider of server fabric switches, a new class of server networking equipment, providing a high performance, programmable infrastructure for grid and utility computing, clustered enterprise applications, and server virtualization. Server fabric switches are designed to connect servers together into a grid, and then provide network and storage connectivity to that server grid.

This acquisition strengthens Cisco's ability to provide customers with specialized networking technology and services to allow them to build their data centers in a flexible, grid-like fashion. The Topspin product line will extend Cisco's data center switching solutions to include InfiniBand-based server switching and will complement Cisco's existing network switching and storage switching solutions including its Ethernet-based Catalyst switching platform for internet/intranet infrastructure and its multiprotocol (Fibre Channel, FCIP, iSCSI and FICON) MDS switches for storage area networks.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cisco will pay approximately $250 million in cash and options for Topspin. The acquisition is subject to various standard closing conditions, including applicable regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Cisco's fiscal year 2005 ending July 30, 2005.

"The widespread adoption of server architectures such as blades, grid computing, and clustered applications is driving an emerging market opportunity within the data center. As our customers build out these new computing environments, it is important that we deliver server networking technologies to fit their needs. By adding Topspin's server fabric switches and virtualization software, alongside our industry leading portfolio of Ethernet and SAN switches we are able to offer our customers compelling end-to-end data center switching capabilities," said Luca Cafiero, Senior Vice President, Data Center, Switching and Wireless Technology Group, Cisco Systems.

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