Features - Storage Innovations:

PIRUS AWARDED PRODUCT OF THE YEAR AT NETWORK STORAGE 2002

Within the Interconnect Product category, finalists included Pirus,Brocade Communications Systems Inc and Vixel Corporation. The Network Storage conference delivers valuable content on storage and storage networking to industry experts, IT professionals and vendors.

The award continues an impressive streak of recognition and achievement for Pirus. To date in 2002, the company garnered a Top Ten Investors' Choice at the elite Network Outlook Conference and was selected by UPSIDE Magazine as one of its “Hot 100 Private Companies.”

“We are honored to be recognized for pioneering an ‘intelligent' approach to storage networking,” said Rich Napolitano, CEO and president of Pirus Networks. “It has never been more critical for IT organizations to maximize their investments. Products like the Pirus Storage Utility Switch are indicative of a new breed of storage technologies that benefit an organization's capital expenditures by optimizing their existing investments, and at the same time significantly reducing their overall cost of ownership.”

“When we founded the Network Storage conference in 1994, our vision was to provide the premier forum for showcasing the most innovative new concepts in storage networking,” said Farid Neema, president of Peripheral Concepts Inc. "Pirus Networks is certainly an innovator, and we are pleased to award Pirus for their efforts in pioneering a new category of ‘intelligent storage switches,' which can enable greater efficiency, performance and ROI of storage and network resources.”

The Network Storage Award winners were selected by a team of independent vendors, storage industry publication editors and market researchers. The awards recognize outstanding achievement in storage networking in four categories: Complete Storage System, Management Software, Interconnect Product switches, hubs, adapters, routers and Innovative Product.

About the Pirus Storage Utility Switch (PSX-1000)

The PSX-1000 offers a highly reliable and scalable platform that enables enterprises to centralize multiple storage services and consolidate multivendor storage assets under a single, easy-to-manage storage network. With the PSX-1000 platform, Pirus provides its patent-pending ServFlex File Services, PirusView management tools and Secure Virtual Storage Domain (SVSD) provisioning services. ServFlex provides the industry's most flexible and scalable file services. Using PirusView management tools and SVSDs, administrators can manage and securely provision storage resources to meet the needs of discrete applications or user groups. Additionally, the PSX-1000's modular design and rolling upgrade software services capability supports easy enhancement and feature upgrades.

About Pirus Networks

Pirus Networks, a leader in intelligent storage networking, was founded in December 1999 and is well funded by premier organizations, including StorageNetworks and VERITAS Software, as well as venture firms Bessemer Venture Partners, BlueStream Ventures, Charles River Ventures and JAFCO Ventures.

The company has a seasoned management and technical team that combine expertise in storage and networking. Pirus is active in industry standard organizations, including membership in the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) IP Storage Working Groups and the Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA). With the delivery of the industry's first Storage Utility Switch, the PSX-1000, Pirus is creating a new category of intelligent storage networking systems that are designed to reduce storage ownership costs and streamline data management. Pirus is a privately held corporation, headquartered in Acton, Massachusetts, and can be reached at www.pirus.com, or call 978-206-9100.