AUSTIN, Texas – Nov. 28, 2006 – Bigfoot Networks, Inc., a research and development company announced the first Flexible Network Architecture (FNA.TM) application for the Killer™ Network Interface Card (NIC) to help make online gaming safer and more secure.
The new FNApp, called the FNA Firewall, is an embedded Linux-based firewall client application that runs inside the Killer NIC, enabling gamers to turn off their CPU burdening firewall and continue gaming with security and optimal system performance. The firewall is based on the wildly popular iptables open source firewall for Linux. The FNA Firewall is available for download at www.killernic.com.
The Killer NIC was announced this summer with FNA to allow everyone to freely write, download, and run applications that execute on the Killer’s Network Processing Unit.
FNApps are embedded Linux applications designed to allow users to run an application with minimal or reduced impact on the main system’s CPU, memory subsystem, caching and hard-disk. The possibilities of FNApps are limitless and can be anything from simple packet monitoring utilities, to full-blown VoIP programs, file-sharing systems, and mini-game or chat servers.
“We like to think of FNA Firewall as enabling gamers with a Killer NIC to play online games without sacrificing performance or security. Using FNA Firewall is like putting armor on your computer; you can game safely and with confidence,” said Harlan Beverly, co-founder and CEO of Bigfoot Networks.
To download FNA Firewall go to: www.killernic.com.
To support the release of the industry’s first FNApp and to generate additional FNApps for users of the Killer NIC, Bigfoot also launched the FNA bounty program for embedded Linux developers, gamers, game developers, or anybody who wants the challenge of developing new FNApps. The FNApp Bounty contest is designed to encourage development of embedded Linux applications to run on the Killer NIC in one of the three categories:
1Web-Server FNApp – $5,000 bounty for a Web-Server application
2Peer-2-Peer FNApp – $2,500 bounty for a BitTorrent, Kazaa, or Gnutella type of file sharing application
3FNApp Open Category – $5,000 bounty for the best and most creative idea (VoIP, wget, packet recording, folding, monkey bots for game servers, client/server file sharing, development tools/aids, full game servers, or an interesting application of your choice)
Bigfoot Networks is also providing evaluation units of the Killer NIC to select developers who enter this program. Developers interested in an eval Killer should contact Bigfoot Networks with their resume and FNApp proposal at bounty@bigfootnetworks.com. All FNApps must be completely open-source, and all submissions may be published on the killernic.com Web site. Visit www.KillerNIC.com for specific FNApp Bounty program details and official rules and regulations.
“Some of the best programmers aren’t necessarily online gamers,” said Beverly. “We started the FNApp Bounty program specifically to attract programmers interested in developing apps that we gamers will want to utilize. Giving away eval Killers will also help get the Linux community excited about programming for Killer.”
About the Killer™ NIC
The Killer NIC is a Network Interface Card powered by LLR Technology and offers gamers superior speed and performance in their online games. Killer’s 400 MHz Network Processing Unit (NPU) and 64 MB of dedicated RAM is one of the first applications of Corporate Network Acceleration Technology introduced to the consumer market. The Killer NIC offers improved gaming performance, standard NIC functionality, and has an onboard USB 2.0 port as part of its Flexible Network Architecture, which allows gamers to write their own embedded Linux applications to run on the NPU. Killer runs on PCs that run the Microsoft Windows XP operating system.
About Bigfoot Networks
Bigfoot Networks is an innovative Austin-based start-up company that is dedicated to making the online gaming experience both faster and more fun. With roots from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, the company was formed by a team of Executive MBA graduates to develop hardware products that improve performance and reduce Lag in online video games. The company has received numerous awards, including the 2005 Fortune Small Business Award and the prestigious 2005 Moot Corp Competition at the University of Texas. The company received $4 million in funding from Venio Capital Partners, and is a member of the Austin Technology Incubator.”
Link: killernic.com
