SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - Jan 30, 2013) - [ Brocade ] (NASDAQ: [ BRCD ]) today announced that it is the first major networking provider to achieve the much anticipated quality assurance and certification for Rackspace Private Cloud. The Brocade^® VDX^® switch with VCS^® Fabric technology underwent a rigorous validation process for compatibility and interoperability so that customers using Rackspace Private Cloud Software with OpenStack can more easily implement a reliable and flexible private cloud solution. As a part of The Rackspace Open Cloud™ platform, the company launched the Rackspace Private Cloud Software in August 2012, with thousands of organizations in more than 125 countries around the world downloading the product.

Customers that purchase a Rackspace Private Cloud certified solution gain the immediate benefits of a smooth transition with the best-suited technologies. The close collaboration between Rackspace and Brocade helps deliver a flexible, resilient and scalable solution that will help address the growing demands of private cloud infrastructures. Private cloud solutions are ideal for enterprises with mission-critical data networking or regulatory requirements in growing vertical markets such as education, healthcare and the public sector.

"Brocade is a leading networking provider and I am very pleased that their solutions have achieved the certification status for Rackspace Private Cloud. Brocade has a long standing relationship with Rackspace and this certification is a natural next step," said Paul Rad, vice president, private cloud, Rackspace.

"Ethernet fabric adoption has now reached critical mass and our enterprise and service provider customers are reaping the benefits of Brocade VCS Fabric technology as part of their cloud-based architectures. This certification from Rackspace is validation that the Brocade VDX switch family with VCS Fabric technology is perfectly designed to deliver the automation, reliability and agility expected by Rackspace and their customers," said Jason Nolet, vice president of Data Center Networking, Brocade.

Brocade, along with OpenStack, which was cofounded by Rackspace and NASA, delivers the benefits of open and interoperable cloud architectures. A member of the OpenStack community since 2011, Brocade has embraced this open source cloud platform as part of its cloud architecture strategy and is optimizing its networking solutions for OpenStack.

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Visit the Rackspace Private Cloud reference architecture site for more information: [ http://www.rackspace.com/cloud/private/architecture/ ]

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