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Company Joins OpenDaylight and Launches the Extreme SDN Innovation Challenge with US Ignite.

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Extreme Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXTR), a leader in high performance networking, today announced its evolutionary software defined networking (SDN) platform to promote community led innovation. Extreme Networks believes customers should be able to migrate their existing (brownfield) networks to SDN without expensive forklift upgrades. Seamless SDN migration requires both an open, standards-based and comprehensive approach with strong community mindshare and robust vendor ecosystem support.

Extreme Networks' SDN platform is based on a comprehensive, hardened OpenDaylight (ODL) controller that uniquely includes: network management, network access control, application analytics and wireless controller technology. Extreme Networks' comprehensive approach preserves the integrity of the open API provided by ODL while extending data center orchestration, automation and provisioning to the entire network under a single pane of glass.

Extreme Networks' simple, fast and smart SDN platform tightly integrates with existing and multi-vendor hardware and software network environments, preserving customer investments and avoiding vendor lock-in. Backward compatibility is maintained with multi-vendor network infrastructure that conforms to the OpenFlow standard and other open APIs. Extreme Networks' OpenDaylight-based API, software development kit (SDK) and developer community will enable customers to evolve with the network to keep pace with emerging security, wireless and converged SDN infrastructure.

Extreme Networks' SDN Innovation Challenge

To fuel innovation and mindshare, Extreme Networks, along with US Ignite, is announcing the Extreme SDN Innovation Challenge. The development initiative will award prizes for applications that leverage the Extreme Networks SDN platform that best drive innovation. Extreme Networks will extend its APIs to allow developers to create applications with a rich software development kit. The challenge starts in September 2014 and runs until May 2015 and is open to U.S. university students and US Ignite members in good standing.

Key Facts

• On June 5, Extreme Networks joined OpenDaylight. Extreme Networks will contribute expertise in the areas of network management, network access control, application analytics and wireless LAN to the community.
• Extreme Networks' SDN platform will provide open and standards-based north and southbound APIs with controller support for OpenStack and OpenFlow, respectively. This versatile offering will enable customers to meet challenges in implementing SDN and evolve data center orchestration, automation and provisioning.
• Extreme Networks has shipped over 10 million SDN-ready ports and has over 40 ecosystem vendors compatible with its open and standards-based SDN platform.

Executive Perspectives

Billy Moon, Distinguished Engineer, Extreme Networks

"This is an exciting time in the industry as development of open APIs will transform networks to enable the customization and efficiency that enterprises and service providers need. Extreme's SDN Platform works to address customer needs by providing an open and standards-based model that takes advantage of our proven technology innovations, and the collaboration of the industry through the OpenDaylight project."

Glenn Ricart, Chief Technology Officer, US Ignite

"At last, ordinary users and their applications won't have to make do with whatever network connectivity happens to be present. They'll be able to use SDN to specify the network they want. Extreme's SDN Innovation Challenge is a ground-floor opportunity to create the network controllers that will be the perfect dance partners for highly responsive and reliable apps."

Neela Jacques, Executive Director, OpenDaylight

"The OpenDaylight project was created to provide an open platform for network programmability to drive and enable SDN. The interoperability and openness that Extreme Networks provides through its comprehensive approach complements the goals of our community perfectly. We are excited to have Extreme Networks as a member and we look forward to the continued collaboration and the integration of OpenDaylight with their SDN platform."