Network Instruments® UNVEILS SECOND GENERATION GIGABIT CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY

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NETWORK INSTRUMENTS^® UNVEILS SECOND GENERATION GIGABIT CAPTURE TECHNOLOGY
Custom Gen2™ Card to Provide Maximum Performance and Flexibility for Full-Duplex Gigabit Analysis

June 13, 2005 – Minneapolis, MN - Network Instruments, the leading developer of network analysis, monitoring and management solutions, announced today it has developed a second-generation gigabit analysis platform. The Gen2 Gigabit Capture Card has been exclusively designed and manufactured by Network Instruments to deliver the best in real-time, wire-speed, full-duplex gigabit analysis. Available now, the Gen2 Capture Card significantly improves performance and flexibility for the entire line of Network Instruments gigabit probe appliances, offering higher port densities, downloadable firmware upgrades, and future-proof scalability.

“Gen2 is the first gigabit platform designed by an analyzer company in our category to maximize network analysis capabilities,” said Roman Oliynyk, CEO of Network Instruments. “Because we created our new gigabit capture card to work exclusively with Observer®, we are able to take full advantage of our hardware and software capabilities and ultimately offer greater full-duplex capture performance to our customers.”

The Gen2 Capture Card allows two times more port density than previous capture cards. Depending on the configuration purchased, it can monitor one, two, or four full-duplex links. The card also utilizes Small Form Pluggable (SFP) modules to ensure flexibility in monitoring and analysis with the ability to support different link types.

“Gen2 technology offers greater adaptability,” said Oliynyk. “For example, the card is included inside our all-in-one portable Gigabit Observer Suite System, which is ideal for field service engineers who continually switch between monitoring both copper and optical interfaces. Additional configurations can also further increase port density to four full-duplex links.”

The new card offers downloadable firmware upgrades. Based on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), functionality changes or updates can be made with a firmware patch.

“Network engineers can now easily maintain card updates,” said Charles Thompson, sales engineering manager for Network Instruments. “As we continue to monitor more network statistics and increase our analyzer capabilities, these updates can be made to the Gen2 Capture Card via the Observer software—thus eliminating the need to have to install a new card or purchase a new system.”

The Gen2 Platform, coupled with Network Instruments Distributed Network Analysis (NI-DNA™) architecture, secures the foundation for future compatibility as networks continue to evolve. NI-DNA provides complete local and remote visibility, a unified code set across all products, and multiple topology support for optimal network management.

“All engineering at Network Instruments is driven by our NI-DNA architecture,” said Oliynyk. “It’s our belief that our systems must offer complete interoperability. The new Gen2 Capture Card complies with that philosophy. It’s our foundation for being able to support 10 gigabit and Fibre Channel in the near future.”

All of Network Instruments Gigabit Probe Appliances are outfitted with the new Gen2 Capture Card. This includes the award-winning Gigabit Probe, the large capacity GigaStor™ Probe, the core-monitoring GigaTrunk™ Probe, and the portable Gigabit Observer Suite System (GOSS). For more information about the Gen2 Platform, the Gen2 Capture Card and other products please visit www.networkinstruments.com.

About Network Instruments
Network Instruments is the industry-leading developer of distributed, user-friendly and affordable network management, analysis and troubleshooting solutions. The award-winning Observer family of products combines a comprehensive management and analysis console with high-performance probes and network TAPs to provide integrated monitoring and management for the entire network (LAN, 802.11 a/b/g, gigabit, WAN). All Network Instruments products are designed utilizing a Distributed Network Analysis (NI-DNA™) architecture. With NI-DNA, the Observer solution set simplifies network troubleshooting and management, optimizes network and application performance and scales to meet the needs of any organization. Founded in 1994, Network Instruments is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota with offices in London, Munich, Paris, Toronto, and multiple cities throughout the United States with distributors in over 50 countries. More information about the company, products, innovation, technology, NI-DNA, becoming a partner, and NI University can be found at: www.networkinstruments.com.