11/20/95 News Release Adaptec, Cisco Announce Joint Marketing, Interoperability Agreement Two Companies Join Forces to Speed ATM Adoption Milpitas, Calif, - November 20, 1995 - Adaptec Inc.(NASDAQ:ADPT) and Cisco Systems today announced an agreement in which the companies will work together to ensure interoperability of ATM products as well as to jointly market those products to end customers and channel partners. "As a leading provider of ATM NICs, Adaptec realizes that market acceptance and implementation of ATM is dependent upon vendors partnering not only to ensure interoperability, but to drive sales and marketing opportunities," said Gary Law, vice president of marketing of Adaptec's INTO business unit. "We are very pleased to announce that our family of ATM NICs is interoperable with Cisco's ATM switching products, and, through our joint marketing efforts, we will work with Cisco to speed adoption of ATM to the desktop." Larry Lang, Cisco marketing director for ATM products, said, "Full interoperability between our workgroup switches and standard, high-performance adapters such as these will drive ATM to the desktop and enable users to safely implement end-to-end ATM solutions today." Rigorous Interoperability Testing "Interoperability among ATM products is vital to the widespread acceptance of ATM at the desktop," according to Law. "The testing we have completed with Cisco is based on a rigorous set of specifications - designed to test ATM in real world environments. These tests are far more arduous than the simple 'plug fests' being conducted around the country." Included in the current round of testing is Classical IP over ATM (RFC-1577), LAN Emulation, and more - all in adherence to the ATM Forum specifications. Testing was performed using the Cisco LightStream 100 ATM switch, a Cisco router with ATM and Ethernet ports, and Adaptec ATM155™ adapters. A key element of the testing involved sending network traffic between ATM and Ethernet. Testing will continue as additional ATM products and solutions are introduced. About Adaptec's ATM Products Adaptec ATM155 NICs are available for both PCI and SBus systems, running over either multimode fiber or Category 5 unshielded twisted pair cable. The NICs are bundled with communications software conforming to the ATM Forum UNI 3.0 and 3.1 specifications for the private user interface. In addition, the NICs feature LAN Emulation and Classical IP over ATM to ensure industry-wide compatibility between a full range of ATM products and legacy LAN technologies. Complete ATM software is provided for Windows NT (PCI) and Solaris 2.3 and 2.4 (SBus). Other driver support available soon includes NetWare, AIX, UNIX, DOS/Windows, Windows 95 and Mac OS. Adaptec ATM155 NICs are available now with prices ranging from $895 to $995. Adaptec also offers a family of ATM NICs running at the industry standard 25.6 Mbps, the Adaptec® ATM25™ NICs. Prices range from $349 to $449. About Cisco's ATM Products Cisco Systems' LightStream 100 high-performance workgroup ATM switch offers 16 ATM ports which can be a mix of LAN and WAN interfaces. Introduced as the HyperSwitch A100, it has been shipping since September 1994. Cisco 7000 and 4000 series routers offer interfaces which support ATM backbone as well as ATM WAN connectivity. The Catalyst 5000 LAN switch also supports ATM as a backbone connecting switches, routers, and servers. Adaptec, Inc., (NASDAQ:ADPT), designs, manufactures and markets IOware® solutions to eliminate performance bottlenecks between microcomputers, networks, and peripherals. Solutions range from simple connectivity products for single-user and small-office desktops, to intelligent subsystem, high performance SCSI, RAID and ATM products for enterprise-wide computing and networked environments. Adaptec I/O solutions are incorporated into the products of all the major computer and peripheral manufacturers around the world. Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., Adaptec is a recognized market leader in high-performance I/O technology. Adaptec currently employs approximately 1,900 people, and with its global distribution network, serves customers worldwide. Adaptec's World Wide Web home page address is http://www.adaptec.com. Adaptec, ANA, Adaptec ATM25, Adaptec ATM155 and IOware are trademarks of Adaptec, Inc., which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All other trademarks are owned by their respective owners.