McDATA to Demonstrate Tiered Storage Networking for the Global Enterpr

    Business Editors/High-Tech Editors
    CeBIT 2005
    Hall 1, Stand 9a1

    BROOMFIELD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 8, 2005--McDATA Corporation (Nasdaq: MCDTA)(Nasdaq: MCDT), a leading provider of storage networking solutions, will showcase its Intrepid(R) 10000 Backbone Director as the heart of a tiered storage network for the Global Enterprise Data Center at CeBIT in Hannover, Germany, March 10-16.
    McDATA's demonstration will be on display in its booth (Hall 1, Stand 9a1), and will show the benefits of deploying a tiered storage network for the Global Enterprise Data Center (GEDC), which enables customers to securely and easily access the information they need anytime, anywhere. The GEDC provides a consolidated, tiered, centrally managed data infrastructure that reduces costs, improves security and can scale as data volumes continue to grow. Visitors to the booth will see McDATA's Intrepid 10000 backbone director and 6000-series directors, Sphereon(TM) Fabric Switches, Eclipse(TM) 2640 and 1620 SAN Routers, and SANavigator(R) management software centrally discovering and managing the McDATA tiered storage networking environment.
    Deployed at the core, McDATA's Intrepid 10000 backbone director (tier 1) is the aggregation point within a tiered network where performance and redundancy are critical. Used in conjunction with McDATA's Intrepid 6000 directors (tier 2), Eclipse SAN routers and Sphereon fabric switches (tier 3), customers can cost effectively deploy information lifecycle management and on-demand resource strategies across their global enterprise (GEDC).
    "McDATA's demonstration at CeBIT shows the next evolution in storage networking. The key differentiator is that only McDATA can deliver a Global Enterprise Data Center as only McDATA has the right products to fulfill tiered storage networking requirements. For most customers, consolidation, interoperability and BC/DR capabilities need to come standard. What they're looking for isn't a point-in-time solution but a viable and long-term one that will evolve with their needs in a cost-effective manner," said Wayne Morris, senior vice president of worldwide marketing for McDATA.

    About McDATA (www.mcdata.com)

    McDATA (Nasdaq: MCDTA)(Nasdaq: MCDT) is the only data infrastructure solutions provider that can deliver a Global Enterprise Data Center -- a globally connected, centrally managed and highly optimized data network. With more than 20 years of storage networking experience, McDATA is trusted in the world's largest data centers, connecting more than two-thirds of all networked data and enabling information access anytime, anywhere.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains statements about expected future events that are forward-looking and subject to risks and uncertainties. Readers are urged to consider statements that include the terms "believes", "belief", "expects", "plans", "objectives", "estimates", "anticipates", "intends", "targets", or the like to be uncertain and forward-looking. Factors that could cause actual results to differ and vary materially from expectations include, but are not limited to, our relationships with EMC, IBM and HDS and the level of their orders, aggressive price competition by numerous other SAN and IP switch suppliers, OEM qualification of our new products, manufacturing constraints and other risk factors that are disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These cautionary statements by us should not be construed as exhaustive or as any admission regarding the adequacy of disclosures made by us. All cautionary statements should be read as being applicable to all forward-looking statements wherever they appear. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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CONTACT: McDATA Corporation Media: Jil Backstrom, 720-558-4774 press.release@mcdata.com or Alex Fuchs, +0821-343 00-12 a.fuchs@konzept-pr.de or Investors: Renee Lyall, 720-558-4629 renee.lyall@mcdata.com

KEYWORD: COLORADO GERMANY INTERNATIONAL EUROPE TRACK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HARDWARE SOFTWARE INTERNET E-COMMERCE TRADESHOW PRODUCT SOURCE: McDATA Corporation

Copyright Business Wire 2005