Wednesday February 2, 5:06 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Vixel and Five Leading Storage Vendors Demonstrate Comprehensive NAS and SAN Solution
Event Introduces the Industry's First Integrated, Multivendor NAS & SAN Data Protection Solution
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 2, 2000-- In a successful display of multivendor cooperation, Vixel Corporation (Nasdaq:VIXL - news) along with five premier storage solution providers, today unveiled the first heterogeneous Storage Area Network (SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS) system optimized for data protection.
The six participating vendors -- Vixel, Legato Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:LGTO - news), Network Appliance, Inc. (Nasdaq:NTAP - news), Quantum|ATL Products, Inc., Spectra Logic Corporation, VERITAS Software Corporation (Nasdaq:VRTS - news) -- have joined forces to collectively respond to the industry's need for seamless storage integration between NAS and SAN.
Vixel switches, based on cutting-edge Fibre Channel technology and management functionality, are critical components to the integrated NAS-SAN infrastructure and enhance existing NAS deployments with the high scalability of SANs. Utilizing the Vixel 8100 Fibre Channel switch, the combined NAS-SAN solution removes tape backup traffic from the Local Area Network (LAN) and frees network bandwidth for user transactions. Implementing a SAN-based architecture for tape backup enables multiple NAS filers to access and share tape resources, reducing administration requirements and increasing the efficiency of data backup and recovery.
``Customers are clamoring for storage system investments that will meet today's needs but are also flexible enough to accommodate tomorrow's storage capacity. Adding SAN capabilities to NAS does this by creating a highly scalable system that can grow with the customer's increasing storage requirements,' said David Hill, analyst, Aberdeen Group. ``NAS and SAN technologies each have their own advantages, making them an excellent complement to one another by increasing overall storage capacity and speed at an affordable price.'
``At the end of the day, customers typically care most about resolving their IT issues and enhancing their competitiveness, and will deploy the appropriate technology to achieve that. Both SANs and NAS have demonstrated their usefulness in different areas,' said Arun Taneja, vice president, marketing, Vixel Corporation. ``The leaders spearheading this solution have demonstrated how the integration of the best from both SAN and NAS can ideally address a real problem for the storage-centric IT customer.'
The value of implementing a combined NAS-SAN solution is evident in the increased efficiency of the overall system. Fibre Channel provides increased bandwidth, moving data through multiple ports at 100MBps each, and scales to support expanding network configurations. By certifying product interoperability from multiple vendors, the combined solution becomes extremely easy to implement and use. This NAS-SAN solution also increases LAN performance by freeing the LAN from the burden of supporting enterprise backup traffic. Vixel Fibre Channel switches support multiple NAS filers, providing necessary access to shared tape resources, centralizing archive storage and streamlining administration and management requirements for storage backup.
``By working together, Vixel and our partners are proving that interoperable systems from multiple vendors are affordable, feasible and can provide high return on investment for our mutual customers,' added Taneja.
About Vixel Products
Vixel is the complete source for all SAN interconnect products. Vixel's suite of switches, hubs, transceivers and management software delivers a reliable and highly scalable set of tools. Vixel's newest product line, the Vixel 7000 Series Fibre Channel Switches, offers flexible and serviceable SAN solutions in the industry's most compact design. Another Vixel innovation, the Vixel 2100 Zoning Managed Hub delivers four independent, 100 MBps loops, providing increased performance. Vixel's software umbrella, SAN InSite, is the most advanced management software tool enabling IT managers to control, configure and trouble shoot all of Vixel's managed products.
Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such a difference include risks affecting development of the storage area network, or SAN market, the competitiveness and performance of Vixel's products in the rapidly changing SAN market and the ability of Vixel to meet evolving product standards required by customers and others involved in the distribution channel for SAN products. Further information on the factors and risks that could affect Vixel's business, financial condition and results of operations are included in the Risk Factors section of Vixel's public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-81347) and Vixel's most recent report on Form 10-Q, which are available at www.sec.gov.
About Vixel Corporation
Vixel Corporation is a leading provider of Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions. The company's comprehensive product portfolio of switches, hubs and transceivers with an integrated management software application delivers a reliable, interoperable solution to its customers and partners. SAN InSite is Vixel's comprehensive management software for SANs, providing remote control and diagnostics for Fibre Channel switches, hubs and transceivers from a single console, reducing the administration and overhead of implementing a SAN. Established in 1991, the company continues to develop innovative Fibre Channel products to optimize the deployment, performance and management of SAN solutions. Vixel products are available through its network of value-added resellers, alliances and OEMs. Vixel is an ISO 9001 certified company.
For more information, visit Vixel's web site at www.vixel.com. Vixel Corporation is headquartered at 11911 North Creek Parkway South, Bothell, Washington 98011 and can be contacted by phone at 425/806-5509 or e-mail at marketing@vixel.com.
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Contact:
Vixel Corporation
Christine Goetz, 425/806-4511
cgoetz@vixel.com
or
Imagio Technology Public Relations
Sean Baze, 206/625-0252
seanb@vixel.com |
