Avnet Technology Solutions extends relationship with F5 Networks to Germany

F5-Solutions strengthen Avnet’s position for the future market of Application Delivery Networking

Nettetal -- Avnet Technology Solutions, a value-added distributor of enterprise computing products, embedded subsystems, software and services and an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE: AVT), today announced it has expanded it’s relationship with F5 Networks to include Germany in addition to the Netherlands. Effective immediately, Avnet now markets and sells the complete product and solution portfolio of F5 Networks in Germany. F5 Networks is a leading global manufacturer of application delivery networking products. With this distribution agreement, Avnet Technology Solutions is entering the booming market for optimization of web-capable applications in enterprise processes, driven by the steadily increasing number of Internet users and services, the demand for high availability of data, security in the network and fast delivery of applications is rapidly growing making these solutions ever more critical.

The application delivery solutions developed by F5 Networks provide for high availability, security and performance of all business-critical servers and applications in complex IT environments. They can be used across industries because they manage both high access rates and data volumes intelligently, as well as meeting increased security needs.

With the solutions from F5, Avnet Technology Solutions is making an ideal addition to its network portfolio in the application optimization area and can now offer its partners tailor-made solutions for traffic management. Companies with complex and memory-intensive applications, above all, will benefit from F5 solutions. VARs and integrators thus benefit significantly from being able to offer solutions for high network and application availability, performance and security, increasing the productivity in the customer’s data center and thus reducing costs at the same time.

Avnet Technology Solutions will sell the entire solution portfolio offered by F5 Networks:
• Traffic Management:
BIG-IP® LTM: Local Traffic Management
BIG-IP® GTM: Global Traffic Management
BIG-IP® Link Controller: Traffic Management for ISP and WAN

• Security:
FirePass®: Secure SSL-VPN application access
Application Security Manager/Module: Protects applications against hackers and day-zero attacks
Message Security Module: Reputation-based network security

• Optimization:
WANJet™: WAN optimization
WebAccelerator™: Accelerated web applications

• Management:
Enterprise Manager: Network Management

Herbert Leven, Networks Business Manager at Avnet Technology Solutions, comments: “Among the application delivery controllers, F5 opens up a quite new and forward-looking market for Avnet and its German resellers. A particular highlight is the iControl software interface, which is the only interface across the entire industry that permits communication and thus intelligent interaction between network and application. The data and statistics on the utilization of network and applications generated by F5 components can thus be read and used, for example, for billing. In addition, the iControl interface can also create the communication between application and web services.”

“We at F5 Networks are delighted that we have been able to recruit this distributor of highly specialized IT solutions as a competent sales partner. We are now ideally positioned to build still further on our outstanding market position in the application delivery networking area,” says Martin Räder, Regional Director, Central & Eastern Europe, of F5 Networks.

About Avnet Technology Solutions
Avnet Technology Solutions is an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) representing US$6 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, with locations in more than 30 countries. As a global technology sales and marketing organization, Avnet Technology Solutions has sales divisions focused on specific customer segments and a select line card strategy enabling an exceptional level of attention to the needs of its customers and suppliers. Visit www.avnet.com/ts/emea

About Avnet
Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) is one of the largest distributors of electronic components, computer products and technology services and solutions with more than 300 locations serving more than 70 countries worldwide. The company markets, distributes and optimizes the supply-chain and provides design-chain services for the products of the world’s leading electronic component suppliers, enterprise computer manufacturers and embedded subsystem providers. Avnet brings a breadth and depth of capabilities, such as maximizing inventory efficiency, managing logistics, assembling products and providing engineering design assistance for its 100,000 customers, accelerating their growth through cost-effective, value-added services and solutions. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007, Avnet generated revenue of $15.68 billion. For more information, visit www.avnet.com.

About F5 Networks
F5 Networks is the world’s leading company in the field of Application Delivery Networking. The solutions offered by F5 Networks ensure that applications are available securely and quickly to every user. By doing so, they help enterprises in optimizing their investments. By providing the network with intelligence and management functions to outsource applications, F5 optimizes the applications and allows higher speeds whilst demanding fewer resources. The expandable architecture of F5 integrates application optimization in an intelligent manner, protecting both the applications and the network as well as making the applications reliable. This all happens based on the universal platform. Over 10,000 organizations and service providers worldwide rely on F5 to keep their applications functional and secure. F5 is based in Seattle (Washington, USA) and has offices across the world. For more information go to www.f5.com.

Press contact:
Avnet Technology Solutions GmbH, Germany
Evelyn v. Ditfurth, PR
Phone: +49 (0) 2153-733 347
evelyn.vonditfurth@avnet.com