Gadzoox Unlocks Fibre Channel Vault

Gadzoox Networks announced today the availability of the FabriCore Engines suite of hardware and embedded operating system (OS) technology, for licensing and purchase. The FabriCore Engines suite of technology offers customers access to Fibre Channel (FC) expertise in three different product offerings, FC-MAC (Media Access Controller) Soft Core, Open SAN OS and ASSPs (Application Specific Standard Products).

According to Gartner the FC SAN component market, which includes switches, HBAs, and routers, is growing at 35% per year and it is forecasted to reach $6.5 Billion by 2006. In addition, the emergence of companies trying to add FC connectivity to their devices has created a new market segment and Gadzoox Networks’ FabriCore Engines is the only technology suite of its kind available to this market today.

“Every FC port existing and being developed in the market today has a FC-MAC at its core,” stated Steve Dalton, President and CEO of Gadzoox Networks. “The FC-MAC technology is a great enabler, but it is not expertise that is easily achievable as new companies are finding out. Gadzoox Networks simplifies this challenge, if a company wants to enter this explosive storage networking market, they must have FC connectivity capability and Gadzoox Networks’ FabriCore Engines provides that technology.”

Potential customers of the FabriCore Engines suite of technology range from multi-protocol switch vendors, to storage system and HBA vendors, to vendors developing products based on new protocols that need to connect to current FC devices.

“The emerging FC device vendor is now being faced with the classic ‘make or buy’ decision for FC technology,” continued Dalton. “Gadzoox Networks has been developing Fibre Channel products and technology longer then any other switch vendor, and with the FabriCore Engines suite of technology, we are offering them proven FC technology at a fraction of the time or cost it would require if the technology were to be developed in-house.”

The FabriCore Engines suite of technology available to customers can be broken out into three product offerings: FC MAC Soft Core, Open SAN OS, and FC ASSPs. The FabriCore Engines FC MAC Soft Core enables customers to easily deploy FC Layers 0, 1 and 2 into their own ASIC design. Products designed with the FabriCore Engines FC MAC core will have the ability to exchange information with other FC devices or understand the FC Protocol, a key necessity for companies that are developing products based on new protocols that need FC connectivity capabilities.

The announcement comes a day after Gadzoox announced a downward adjustment in the expected first quarter earnings, citing the merger between HP and Compaq as the main reason for the shortfall. Gadzoox said that the lower earnings were a result of a reduction in the purchase commitment by Compaq (now the New HP) for the embedded Fabric Switch 6.