SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SonicWALL, Inc. , a leading provider of continuous data protection and network, Web and email security solutions, has been recognized by solution-provider partners and readers of CMP Technology's VARBusiness for outstanding satisfaction levels that it provides to them and has been lauded in the Annual Report Card (ARC) award program. The company received the Company of the Year award in the Security Appliances category from the biweekly magazine that provides strategic insight to technology integrators, at an awards ceremony held on August 15, at the XChange '06 Conference in St. Louis.

Now in their 21st year, the VARBusiness ARC awards recognize outstanding partner programs in 19 product and service categories including desktop computers, security appliances, storage management, Internet application server software and networking hardware. Winners were selected based on the survey results of more than 5,000 systems integrators, IT consulting organizations, value-added resellers (VARs), solution providers and software developers.

"We are extremely honored that our channel partners have voted us winners of the ARC award for the third consecutive year," said Matthew Medeiros, president and chief executive officer at SonicWALL. "We understand that, to succeed in the long term, 100% of our sales must come from the channel. We don't compete with our partners, and we are committed to enabling their long term success. This is more than a sales approach; it is a company strategy affecting every area of operation. We believe this award provides further validation of our approach and we thank our channel partners for their support and recognition."

"Our entire focus is on maintaining alignment with our channel," said John DiLullo, vice president of worldwide sales at SonicWALL. "Resellers increasingly act as extensions of their customers' IT departments, and we treat the channel as our primary customer. We believe this alignment with the interests of our partners and the needs of their customers is one of our key differentiators. For example, we are now providing business development training to help resellers run their organizations more profitably. To ensure that our entire channel benefits from the material, we have partnered with CMP Publishing to make the content of our 2006 US partner conference available online, including keynotes, business programs and technical updates." To view the content from SonicWALL's 2006 conference, visit http://sonicwall.channelweb.com/ .

Research was conducted by Bernett Research Services, a Boston-based data collection company, and Answers Research, the Solana Beach, Calif.-based market research and consulting firm.

"The VARBusiness Annual Report Card is the industry defining research on vendor/partner relationships," says Lawrence M. Walsh, the magazine's editor. "It is a significant benchmark because the winners are selected by their own solution provider partners."

About VARBusiness Magazine

For the past 19 years, VARBusiness' strategic resources have been the gateway to the Solution Provider community. VARBusiness provides strategic insight for technology integrators through industry-defining research, in-depth editorial, channel events and innovative Web services, enabling these IT professionals to make educated decisions for their businesses, partnerships and customers. VARBusiness has been the recipient of numerous industry awards for both editorial content and design. Additional information about VARBusiness products, events and services, is available at its Web site, http://www.varbusiness.com/ .

About SonicWALL, Inc.

Founded in 1991, SonicWALL, Inc. designs, develops and manufactures comprehensive network security, email security, secure remote access, and continuous data protection solutions. SonicWALL is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol SNWL. For more information, contact SonicWALL at +1-408-745-9600 or visit the company web site at http://www.sonicwall.com/ .

Safe Harbor Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements include but are not limited to statements regarding the commitment of the Company to the long-term success of its channel partners. These forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the time the statements are made and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. In addition, please see the "Risk Factors" described in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, for a more detailed description of the risks facing our business. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to SonicWALL as of the date of the release, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to SonicWALL as of the date of the release, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement.

NOTE: SonicWALL is a registered trademark of SonicWALL, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

CONTACT: Mary McEvoy of SonicWALL, Inc., +1-408-962-7110, or
mmcevoy@sonicwall.com; or Erin Collopy of The Hoffman Agency, +1-408-975-3041,
or ecollopy@hoffman.com, for SonicWALL, Inc.

Web site: http://www.sonicwall.com/