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Broadcom's NetXtreme(R) II Converged Network Interface Controllers Support Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

IRVINE, Calif., June 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Broadcom Corporation , a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, today announced that the company's leading NetXtreme(R) II converged network interface controllers (C-NICs) support Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003. For the first time in the industry, a standard high volume Gigabit Ethernet controller now features integrated remote direct memory access (RDMA) technology to support high performance computing (HPC) applications on a widely available platform such as Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060609/BROADCOMLOGO )

RDMA technology is used as a cluster communications technology that links multiple servers together as one entity to provide a scalable compute environment suitable for users in the industrial, scientific and commercial industries. By tightly integrating Broadcom(R) C-NIC technology with the application programming interface (API) provided within Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, standards-based clustering technology, utilizing RDMA over Ethernet, is now cost-effectively available to the industry.

Early adopters of RDMA used specialized fabrics to enable the technology. However, the use of such specialized fabrics adds cost and complexity, further aggravates power and cooling issues, and requires trained personnel, all of which contributes to increased total cost of ownership (TCO). With RDMA now available on standards-based Ethernet products, such as Broadcom's NetXtreme II C-NICs, users are able to achieve significant cost savings as well as utilizing the technical capabilities and benefits that RDMA over Ethernet provides.

RDMA is especially important to parallel applications because it enables high bandwidth, coupled with lower latencies, and reduces the overhead associated with server-to-server communications. RDMA over Ethernet provides the best combination of these capabilities, as well as low cost, low TCO, Ethernet ubiquity, and high bandwidths that support 1, 2.5 and 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps). Broadcom C-NICs, with integrated RDMA, can run on any Ethernet equipment and network infrastructure already owned and used by IT departments.

"Broadcom's NetXtreme II C-NIC products support the Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 platform by providing RDMA networking that interfaces to Microsoft's Winsock Direct API. Broadcom and Microsoft have closely collaborated to enable RDMA over standard Ethernet networks," said Greg Young, Vice President and General Manager of Broadcom's High-Speed Controller Line of Business. "The combination of Broadcom's high volume C-NICs featuring integrated RDMA, with the familiarity and ease-of-use of the Windows platform, can lower the barriers and accelerate deployment of RDMA into the existing IT infrastructure."

"The combination of the familiar Microsoft development environment, coupled with familiar Ethernet and TCP/IP equipment, is a powerful formula," said Kyril Faenov, Director of High Performance Computing at Microsoft. "Microsoft has worked with Broadcom over the past few years so that Broadcom's high volume C-NICs can provide our customers with an exceptional user experience."

Technical Information

Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003 enables a large set of already developed clustering applications that serve the commercial, industrial and scientific industries. It provides an application programming interface, called the message passing interface (MPI), frequently used by HPC applications. The Broadcom NetXtreme II C-NIC products now support Microsoft's Winsock Direct interface, which in turn, provides the MPI-based applications with access to RDMA network protocols and services.

Broadcom has recently demonstrated prototypes of its Winsock Direct-based RDMA C-NIC technology at various industry trade shows including Supercomputing 2005 and Server Blade Summit 2006. Broadcom C-NICs will soon be available on next generation servers developed by the leading server original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide.

NetXtreme II C-NIC Product Description

Broadcom's NetXtreme II family of C-NICs is designed to drastically change the way servers are built and deployed in the future. This family of single-chip C-NIC devices simultaneously runs four specific functions including accelerated TCP/IP offloading for data networking, accelerated iSCSI for block storage networking, accelerated RDMA for high-performance server clustering, and remote system management pass-through functions -- all over a single Ethernet fabric. By converging disparate network traffic over Ethernet, NetXtreme II C-NICs enable a lower TCO relative to configuring, maintaining and running four separate and disparate networks.

Broadcom has shipped over 100 million Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) controller chips to date, demonstrating its leadership in the GbE LAN-on-motherboard (LOM) market, and continues to maintain a leading position in GbE revenue and units shipped according to independent market research firms.

About Broadcom

Broadcom Corporation is a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications. Our products enable the delivery of voice, video, data and multimedia to and throughout the home, the office and the mobile environment. Broadcom provides the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip and software solutions to manufacturers of computing and networking equipment, digital entertainment and broadband access products, and mobile devices. These solutions support our core mission: Connecting everything(R).

Broadcom, one of the world's largest fabless semiconductor companies with annual revenue of more than $2.5 billion, is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and has offices and research facilities in North America, Asia and Europe. Broadcom may be contacted at 1-949-450-8700 or at http://www.broadcom.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

All statements included or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry and business, management's beliefs, and certain assumptions made by us, all of which are subject to change. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as "anticipates,""expects,""intends,""plans,""predicts,""believes,""seeks,""estimates,""may,""will,""should,""would,""could,""potential,""continue,""ongoing," similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.

Important factors that may cause such a difference for Broadcom in connection with Gigabit Ethernet controller products include, but are not limited to, general economic and political conditions and specific conditions in the markets we address, including the volatility in the technology sector and semiconductor industry, trends in the broadband communications markets in various geographic regions, including seasonality in sales of consumer products into which our products are incorporated, and possible disruption in commercial activities related to terrorist activity or armed conflict in the United States and other locations; the rate at which our present and future customers and end-users adopt Broadcom's technologies and products in the markets for enterprise networking applications; delays in the adoption and acceptance of industry standards in those markets; our ability to scale our operations in response to changes in demand for our existing products and services or demand for new products requested by our customers; the availability and market acceptance of third party products with which Broadcom's products are designed to interoperate; the timing, rescheduling or cancellation of significant customer orders and our ability, as well as the ability of our customers, to manage inventory; the gain or loss of a key customer, design win or order; intellectual property disputes and customer indemnification claims and other types of litigation risk; our ability to specify, develop or acquire, complete, introduce, market and transition to volume production new products and technologies in a cost-effective and timely manner; our ability to retain, recruit and hire key executives, technical personnel and other employees in the positions and numbers, with the experience and capabilities, and at the compensation levels needed to implement our business and product plans; problems or delays that we may face in shifting our products to smaller geometry process technologies and in achieving higher levels of design integration; competitive pressures and other factors such as the qualification, availability and pricing of competing products and technologies and the resulting effects on sales and pricing of our products; the timing of customer-industry qualification and certification of our products and the risks of non-qualification or non-certification; our ability to timely and accurately predict market requirements and evolving industry standards and to identify opportunities in new markets; changes in our product or customer mix; the volume of our product sales and pricing concessions on volume sales; the availability and pricing of third party semiconductor foundry, assembly and test capacity and raw materials; fluctuations in the manufacturing yields of our third party semiconductor foundries and other problems or delays in the fabrication, assembly, testing or delivery of our products; the risks of producing products with new suppliers and at new fabrication and assembly facilities; the quality of our products and any remediation costs; the effectiveness of our expense and product cost control and reduction efforts; the risks and uncertainties associated with our international operations, particularly in light of recent events; the effects of natural disasters, public health emergencies, international conflicts and other events beyond our control; the level of orders received that can be shipped in a fiscal quarter; and other factors.

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other Securities and Exchange Commission filings discuss the foregoing risks as well as other important risk factors that could contribute to such differences or otherwise affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of this date. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statement for any reason.

Broadcom(R), the pulse logo, Connecting everything(R), the Connecting everything logo and NetXtreme(R) are among the trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States, certain other countries and/or the EU. Microsoft(R) and Windows(R) are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

Broadcom Trade Press Contact Scott Harlin Public Relations Manager 949-926-5226 sharlin@broadcom.com Broadcom Investor Relations Contact T. Peter Andrew Vice President, Investor Relations 949-926-5663 andrewtp@broadcom.com Broadcom Technical Contact Uri Elzur Director, Advanced Technology 949-926-6432 uri@broadcom.com

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Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Enterprise Networking

CONTACT: Trade Press, Scott Harlin, Public Relations Manager,+1-949-926-5226, sharlin@broadcom.com, or Investor Relations, T. Peter Andrew,Vice President, Investor Relations, +1-949-926-5663, andrewtp@broadcom.com, orTechnical, Uri Elzur, Director, Advanced Technology, +1-949-926-6432,uri@broadcom.com, all of Broadcom Corporation

Web site: http://www.broadcom.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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