Press Release

September 26, 2006

VXTECH, a Division of Ciara Technologies Announces FUSION1200ÿ SMP system (Up to 48 Processors/192 Cores) based on Intelÿ Xeonÿ Processor Technology

Intel Developer Forum, San Francisco, CA. - September 26, 2006
VXTECH, a division of Ciara Technologies, a global system integrator and servers manufacturer, announced today the launch of its FUSION1200® Server Series, a high performance, shared-memory SMP system, based on Intel® Xeon® 5100/5300 processors sequence and ScaleMP® versatile SMP (vSMP) architecture. Designed to provide a cost-effective alternative to traditional SMP servers, VXTECH’s FUSION1200® is designed to achieve optimal performance for High Performance Technical Computing applications, while providing unparalleled ease of deployment, management and maintenance.

The FUSION1200® series supports Intel Dual-Core processors (FUSION 1220®) or Intel Quad-Core processors (FUSION 1240®) and is available in either desk-side or rack-mount form factor. The FUSION1200M® targets higher memory capacity requirements with double the memory capacity of the FUSION1200®, allowing up to 384GB RAM per chassis. The FUSION1200X® and FUSION1200XM® expansion modules permit up to 4 chassis to be connected as one system, supporting up to 48 processors and 1.5TB of shared memory.

The FUSION1200® Server Series targets industrial sectors in the fields of mechanical engineering, chemistry, aerospace and energy. “We are very excited to add the FUSION1200® to our existing product line as it will help us provide more choices to our OEM and system integrator partners” says Patrick Scateni, Vice President of VXTECH. “The FUSION1200® will give our partners the ability to compete in new markets or strengthen their x86-based offering”.

VXTECH markets the FUSION1200® to system-integrators and server OEMs worldwide. “The combination of Intel’s Xeon® processors and large memory enabled by ScaleMP® versatile SMP architecture and VXTECH innovative engineering creates the perfect platform for the high-performance computing market” says Shai Fultheim, Founder and CTO of ScaleMP®. ”In addition, the companies are teaming with leading application vendors to leverage the FUSION1200® standard x86-architecture to create easy-to-use, turn-key solutions that deliver optimal performance - this is what users really care about”.

Among the first to resell the FUSION1200® is SGI Professional Services that develops solutions to address customers’ workflow requirements. “Because SGI Professional Services is committed to offering an array of scalable x86-based platform options to meet escalating HPC customer demands, we are pleased to adopt the FUSION1200® line among our offerings as the SGI f1200 server,” said Bob Pette, Senior Director, SGI Professional Services. “SGI f1200 is a great fit for users running applications that require high processor count and large memory addressability in a Xeon® architecture. The f1200 is an ideal complement to SGI’s deep domain expertise in HPC and shared memory architectures, and clearly will benefit from our long history of close collaboration with HPC application developers.”

About VXTECH:
VXTECH, a division of CIARA TECHNOLOGIE designs, develops, markets, services, and supports a variety of server systems including NEXXUS-4000® Personal Cluster, the acclaimed VXRACK® high density blade server, FUSION-1200® SMP Server powered by ScaleMP® vSMP, VXR-3DT® Supercomputer Architecture, VXPRO® rack-mount or tower server, VXSTOR® networked storage and GRAPHIXX® high-end workstations. The company's state of the art products are based on the Intel IA32 and IA64 architectures.

Established in 1984, CIARA TECHNOLOGIE, a division of the Hypertec Group, has been operating for over 20 years in the information technology field as a systems technology manufacturer. CIARATECH is one of Canada's largest manufacturers of Intel-based computers.

ScaleMP is a registered trademark of ScaleMP, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries worldwide. SGI is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries worldwide. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

Contact:
Patrick Scateni
VXR-3DT Co-creator
Ciara Technologies
T: (514) 798-8880 Ext. 6550
pscateni@ciara-tech.com

Contact:
Andre Fuochi
Vice President, Technology Practice
GCI Group
T: (416) 486-7227
afuochi@gcigroup.com