PLX Technology and Fusion-io Form Alliance on Revolutionary PCI Express-Based SSD Products

PCIe Switches in New ioDrive Duo Support Market’s Fastest Solid-State Storage Solutions

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – March 30, 2009 -- PLX Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLXT), the leading global supplier of PCI Express® (PCIe®) switch and bridge silicon announced an alliance with Fusion-io, the leader in application-centric, solid-state architecture and high-performance I/O solutions. Fusion-io is using PLX ExpressLane™ Gen 2 PCIe switches in its ioDrive Duo, the market’s fastest and most innovative SSD solution. Fusion-io also plans to leverage PLX’s industry-leading, feature-rich PCIe switches in its innovative next-generation server-attached, network-shared products, based on the same core ioMemory technology being adopted by the industry’s largest server companies.

The ioDrive Duo dramatically improves application memory capacity and storage performance with up to 640GB capacity (1.28 TB available in second half of 2009). The cutting-edge architecture is based on the PCI Express 2.0 standard. A single ioDrive Duo can sustain up to 1.5GB/s of raw throughput in each direction on a x4 or x8 interface. This gives an ioDrive Duo almost three times the bandwidth of SATA 3 and is only possible by attaching directly to PCIe using an integrated PLX switch.

“PCI Express offers the most direct path to where the data is processed and remains the standard interface for all legacy and future systems,” said David Flynn, chief technology officer of Fusion-io. “It is the optimal interface for our ioMemory architecture to continue scaling both performance and capacity. We are excited by what PLX’s innovative PCI Express switching technology makes possible in our new ioDrive Duo, which again raises the bar for application-centric solid-state storage. But this is only the first step as we move from direct-attached storage to server-attached, network-shared storage. Our synergistic relationship with PLX will help us develop a new generation of enterprise solid-state storage solutions.”

“Teaming up with the innovative leadership at Fusion-io to make the ioDrive Duo a reality reflects PLX’s strategic commitment to enabling a wide array of storage solutions,” said David Raun, vice president of marketing and business development, PLX. “The PLX ExpressLane family is providing a critical technology to this high-growth segment in storage, and we are prepared to provide Fusion-io with the cutting-edge switches required by their performance-demanding applications. Both companies enjoy a leadership position and our engagement with Fusion-io is helping to advance the rapidly increasing storage needs of a connected world.”

PLX's PCIe switches provide board designers and system architects with the industry's most extensive and proven lineup of products with more than 30 devices, ranging in density from three to 24 ports and from four to 96 lanes. All PLX PCI Express Gen 2 switches are compliant with the PCI-SIG PCI Express 2.0 specification and published on the organization’s exclusive integrators list. For detailed information on the entire ExpressLane switch family, please visit www.plxtech.com/pcie or contact sales at www.plxtech.com/contact.

Press Graphics
A downloadable high-resolution press graphic of the new ioDrive Duo is at http://www.fusionio.com/MediaKit.php

About PLX
PLX Technology, Inc. (www.plxtech.com), based in Sunnyvale, Calif., USA, is a leading global supplier of high-performance, feature-rich, system-interconnect semiconductors, SoC and software solutions for the communications, storage, server, compute, embedded-control, and consumer markets. The Company provides a competitive advantage through an integrated combination of experience, innovative silicon, powerful design tools, and synergetic global partnerships. These unmatched PLX solutions are based on established technologies including PCI Express, USB, SATA, Ethernet, and FireWire that enable our customers to develop equipment with industry-leading performance, scalability, security, and reliability, and bring their designs to market faster.

About Fusion-io
Fusion-io is a leading provider of enterprise solid-state technology and high-performance I/O solutions. The company’s solid-state storage technology closes the gap between processing power and storage needs delivering breakthrough performance at a fraction of the cost of traditional disk-based storage systems. The result is a world of possibilities for performance-starved applications.