HP Signs Global Agreement With JNI for JNI Fibre Channel Host Bus
Adapters
Multiyear Contract Covers PCI, SBus HBAs for HP Servers and Storage Subsystems
biz.yahoo.com
Thursday July 6, 8:05 am Eastern Time
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 6, 2000--JNI® Corporation (Nasdaq:JNIC - news), the fastest growing Fibre Channel host bus adapter company(1),
today announced it has signed a three-year, global value-added reseller agreement with Hewlett-Packard Company to supply JNI's FibreStar(TM) host bus
adapters for HP servers and storage subsystems.
The agreement covers JNI's entire line of FibreStar PCI and SBus host bus adapters (HBAs), which includes the Unix and PC Server DriverSuite(TM) operating
system drivers, and EZ Fibre(TM) configuration and management utility software.
The JNI PCI HBAs support all Fibre Channel topologies under most major operating systems, including HP-UX, Microsoft Windows 2000/Windows NT, Sun
Microsystems Solaris, Novell NetWare, Red Hat Linux, IBM AIX, and Apple Mac OS. The JNI SBus HBAs are designed for Solaris-based systems and also
support all Fibre Channel topologies including fabric. JNI is the only major HBA manufacturer to offer full-fabric support on multiple operating systems for both PCI
and SBus-based servers.
``Worldwide, HP installations requiring Fibre Channel run the gamut of operating systems and bus protocols,'' said Paul Balnys, worldwide marketing manager of HP
Complementary Products. ``JNI's multiple operating system support and PCI and SBus HBAs offer HP customers a unique single source to meet their diverse
demands for Fibre Channel connectivity. This agreement helps HP meet the myriad requirements for deploying storage area networks (SANs) at the enterprise-level
around the globe.''
``Our recent collaborations with HP have given us rapid exposure to its U.S. customers, and with this agreement, significantly expands our exposure to HP's
international customer base as well,'' said Roland J. Thibodeau, executive vice president of sales for JNI Corp. ``HP's reputation for quality and its role as one of the
world's leading SAN vendors matches perfectly with the reputation we've developed for providing the highest quality Fibre Channel adapters for SANs in
mission-critical, enterprise-level applications.''
Previously, JNI announced its membership in HP's Open SAN Initiative (Feb. 8, 2000), qualifying its HBAs for the HP Equation architecture products, including the
HP SureStore E SAN Manager software, as well as participating in the HP Open SAN Software Program, HP SAN Interoperability Program and HP SAN
Integration Centers. JNI also has several agreements with key OEMs that supply products for HP systems and storage groups, including Hitachi Data Systems and
StorageTek.
JNI now has formal agreements with the six largest suppliers of external disk storage systems: EMC, Compaq, IBM, Sun Microsystems, HP and Hitachi Data
Systems, accounting for 74.3% of US external disk storage systems revenue in 1999, according to IDC.(2) In addition, JNI sells a significant portion of its products
into servers and storage systems of these six companies via direct and distribution channels.
About JNI Corporation
JNI Corporation is the fastest-growing Fibre Channel host bus adapter company and the No. 2 manufacturer of Fibre Channel HBAs (non-captive) in revenue
according to IDC (3/00). JNI offers a broad line of HBAs, ASICs and software for storage area networks (SANs). JNI's PCI products operate on Solaris,
Windows 2000, Windows NT, Novell, Linux and MacOS systems. JNI's SBus products run on Solaris. Customers include Amdahl, Avid, Chaparral, Compaq
StorageWorks, Consan, EMC, Eurologic, Hewlett-Packard Company, Hitachi Data Systems, IBM, LSI Logic, McData, MTI, StorageTek and Sun Microsystems.
Company headquarters are in San Diego, with offices throughout the U.S. and Munich (Munchen), Germany.
www.jni.com
JNI -- First in Fibre Channel(TM)
Forward Looking Statements
With the exception of historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These risks include the rapidly changing technology in the company's markets, the
evolving industry standards and frequent introductions of new products and enhancements; the fact that the Fibre Channel market is at an early stage of development;
the company's reliance on certain contract manufacturers, OEMs, distributors and key customers and the other risks discussed in the company's registration
statement on Form S-1 and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
JNI, JNIC, FibreStar, and First in Fibre Channel are trademarks or registered trademarks of JNI Corp. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
holders.
(1) Fastest-growing overall and No. 2 non-captive (merchant) host bus adapter company in terms of revenue according to IDC Bulletin No. 22058, published April
2000. (2) IDC publication No. 21643, 1999 U.S. Disk Storage Systems Market Forecast and Analysis, Table 78 ``US External Disk Storage Systems Revenue by
Supplier, 1998 and 1999,'' April 2000.
Contact:
JNI Corporation
Chris Dale (media only), 858/552-3547
cdale@jni.com
www.jni.com |
