Tarari Lays Out Roadmap for XML Silicon Products; Further Extending Core XML functions into ASICs to Create More XML-Aware Network Switches, Servers and Appliances

SAN DIEGO—(BUSINESS WIRE)—May 5, 2004— Tarari, Inc., the award-winning acceleration company and the first company to design and build core XML functions into silicon, announced today its XML Silicon roadmap to enable OEMs, ISVs, VARs, Fortune 500 corporations as well as small-to-medium enterprises to take advantage of XML hardware acceleration. The roadmap advances Tarari's XML Silicon and extends the current generation of PCI boards -- in use by customers today -- to include dedicated ASICs as well as other form factors and inter-connects, including PCI-X, PMC and Compact PCI boards.

"More and more XML-aware devices are being incorporated into the network infrastructure," said Randy Smerik, president & CEO, Tarari, Inc. "Our XML Silicon roadmap for Tarari Content Processors further stimulates the development of whole new range of application and content aware network switches/routers, Application and XML Firewalls, XML Acceleration and Management appliances, high-performance Web Services servers, high-density blade servers, XML load balancers, content-aware Storage Area Networks (SANs), and real-time telecommunications billing solutions so that our customers can get to gigabit-throughput. All they need to do is to incorporate Tarari's snap-in solution to their existing network and server architectures and they'll gain the acceleration exactly where it's needed."

Tarari is the Intel spinout from the division that originally designed and built the world's first XML Accelerator, which won Overall Best of Show at NetWorld+Interop in May of 2000. Succeeding generations of XML acceleration products have included the first XML load balancer and the first XML switch. Based on this experience, in 2003 Tarari delivered to its customers the industry's first XML Content Processor, which implements XML functions in silicon. Tarari will introduce its latest XML Silicon product, the Tarari RAX Content Processor, at NetWorld+Interop being held in Las Vegas May 9-14, 2004.

Tarari Content Processors do the heavy lifting and reduce processor-draining tasks to near-zero CPU time by moving these tasks away from compute-bound, general-purpose processors into specialized silicon. Tarari's XML Silicon allows XML and Web Services to be deployed in high transaction rate environments thanks to its Simultaneous XPath acceleration -- XPath is a W3C standard which is fast becoming the most popular way to decode and route XML documents.

XML Performance -- Real Pain that needs to be solved today

Many companies that have embarked on XML and Web Services projects have already experienced severe performance problems. Customers report that processing complex XML messages can take up to 20 seconds per message and that their systems hit a performance ceiling at a few messages per second, whereas their design specifications call for sub-second response times and hundreds or even thousands of messages per second. To ensure that Web Services and XML-based systems continue to gain traction and acceptance on a broad scale, greater throughput and speed is critical.

Many Tarari customers have already benefited from the sheer performance gains achieved by using Tarari Content Processors. The company's XML technology allows them to use industry-standard components and operating systems to create powerful high-performance systems.

Tarari's XML Silicon Roadmap

Tarari's team has years of experience with high speed XML processing, and that is what drove Tarari to create the world's first commercial XML Silicon that is being used by initial customers today. In order to ensure that the XML acceleration can truly be "snapped" into networking and server systems, a robust set of products based on a well designed architectural foundation is essential. Tarari's XML Content Processors and XML Silicon roadmap achieves that objective. Here are some of the key elements of that Roadmap:

-- Industry-standard boards -- Tarari delivers today its XML Content Processor that is a unique combination of a Content Processing Controller and two dynamically programmable Content Processing Engines. This architecture has been designed to reach the highest performance levels without sacrificing flexibility. It is currently packaged in a PCI form factor which allows it to integrate easily in networking, appliance and server systems. Within the XML Silicon roadmap, other board-level packaging options are targeted including Blades, Compact PCI, and motherboards.

-- ASICs -- While a PCI or other board-level approach can significantly reduce the integration time to incorporate XML Acceleration into target systems, there are other environments where a single ASIC is needed. In fact, the Tarari XML Acceleration ASIC is a key element of its XML Silicon roadmap. This second generation silicon is designed for OEMs who require XML Acceleration and need to include it in the custom systems they are building. A key benefit of Tarari's XML Acceleration ASIC is the wide variety of systems it can support from high-end switches for an enterprise data center to dedicated entry-level devices for small office environments.

-- Host-Interconnects -- Tarari's XML Content Processor supports the popular PCI host-interconnect today. PCI provides a standard slot that allows the Tarari's XML Content Processors to physically connect with the system being accelerated. To ensure Tarari customers can easily integrate XML Acceleration, Tarari's roadmap continues to extend the host-interconnect options to include such offerings as PCI-X and PCI Express.

-- Communication Silicon Interconnects -- More and more network traffic is now comprised of XML formatted messages, and there is a real demand to understand and process those messages in what's called "inline mode." Inline Mode means that the communication silicon interfaces directly with the XML Content Processor without the need for the message to be processed by a general purpose CPU first. Tarari XML Silicon roadmap fully supports Inline Mode by offering the high-speed interconnects needed to work natively and directly with packet-level communication silicon.

-- Integrated Security -- Tarari's XML Content Processors also include a rich set of Security capabilities fully integrated today in its silicon. These functions include silicon acceleration of RSA public key, bulk encryption/decryption with 3DES/DES, message digests with SHA-1, and true Random Number Generation. Tarari's XML Silicon roadmap extends these capabilities further as standards such as WS-Security are deployed. Tarari's real-world customer experience has proven that "integrated security" is critical, and Tarari is unique in how it has developed these capabilities natively within its offering without the need for third-party "crypto silicon" to be purchased.

Tarari at NetWorld+Interop 2004

Tarari will be demonstrating its new RAX Content Processor at NetWorld+Interop in Las Vegas on booth 762, May 11-13th. Editors who would like to setup interviews should contact Xenia Moore (xmoore@1-for-all.com).

About Tarari Content Processors

Tremendous investment has been made to accelerate and process packets as they move through networks and servers. However, this packet processing has been limited to looking at headers, performing table look-ups, and sending the packets on their way. Content Processors are hardware based subsystem building blocks, (silicon, boards, etc.) that is integrated into servers, appliances and network devices to allow control and inspection of complete messages and rich data at much greater rates than previously possible. Content Processors ensure that the information in the payloads of these messages can be intelligently accessed and processed while maintaining network speeds.

About Tarari, Inc.

Tarari, Inc., the award-winning acceleration company headquartered in San Diego, CA, USA, designs and produces Tarari Content Processors that accelerate and offload compute-intensive complex algorithms used in network security, Web services and high-performance computing environments. Tarari's customers include independent software vendors, computer manufacturers and networking manufacturers. Tarari is a privately-held company with venture backing from Crosspoint Venture Partners, XMLFund, Miramar Venture Partners and Intel Capital. For more information, visit: www.tarari.com, e-mail: info@tarari.com, or call +1-858-385-5131.

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owner

1-for-All Marketing, Inc.
Xenia Moore, 619-275-0185
xmoore@1-for-all.com