"3Com and StorageTek Unveil Storage Area Network Initiatives"
Leaders in Storage and Networking Collaborate to Deliver
Open, Intelligent and Integrated SANs
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 16, 1999-- 3Com
Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS - news) and StorageTek® (Storage
Technology Corp., NYSE:STK) today announced a wide-ranging alliance
designed to help companies manage the digital information explosion.
Tapping StorageTek's strengths in storage hardware and software and
3COM's leadership in network systems and network management, the two
companies plan to accelerate the delivery and deployment of storage area
network (SAN) solutions -- an emerging architecture that enables
''anytime/anywhere'' access to information and vastly simplifies storage asset
management.
The key focus of the relationship is to deliver on the promise of storage
networking and deliver open SAN solutions to the enterprise. This includes
providing turnkey solutions to customers that are completely interoperable,
tested and certified. Furthermore, by combining SAN software, hardware
and professional services, StorageTek and 3Com are expected to
dramatically reduce customer risk and time to market for ''open, intelligent
and integrated''(TM) SANs. The 3Com/StorageTek alliance spans many
areas of collaboration, including testing and certification of the respective
companies' offerings for Fibre Channel SAN deployments, joint sponsorship
of open standards for SANs, and may be expanded to include co-marketing,
cooperative sales, service and support and joint technology development.
Initially, StorageTek and 3Com will ensure interoperability of 3Com's Host
Bus Adapter (HBA) with StorageTek's StorageNet(TM) Access Hub, Fibre
Channel Hub 1000 and Fibre Channel Switch 4000, as well as StorageTek's
disk arrays and tape libraries. By embedding the 3Com HBA into its SAN
product portfolio, StorageTek is able to construct and deliver complete,
application-oriented solutions.
Committed to ''Open, Intelligent and Integrated'' Storage Area Networks
Both StorageTek and 3Com oppose proprietary architectures and are
committed to open products that support customers' varied business needs,
existing processes and technology investments. The power and market
momentum created through the cooperation and coordination of 3Com and
StorageTek is expected to catalyze market alignment around open standards
for Fibre Channel and SAN-oriented technologies.
''Customers should rapidly reap the benefits of this strategic alliance,'' said
David E. Weiss, StorageTek chairman, president and chief executive officer.
''This relationship is expected to have a resounding impact on device
interoperability and open standards, while ensuring near-term availability of
SAN-based solutions that deliver clear business benefits.''
''This past November, 3Com became the first networking company to enter
the SAN market. At that time, we stated the importance of collaboration with
credible enterprise storage vendors to bring forth truly interoperable
solutions,'' said Eric Benhamou, 3Com chairman and CEO. ''3Com's
collaboration with StorageTek brings significant resources and value that will
result in the near-term delivery of integrated, application-oriented SAN
solutions carrying the StorageConnect/StorageNet logo. This co-certification
will yield the end-to-end interoperability that enterprise customers demand.''
Product Interoperability Testing is Underway
The companies' first order of business is to align 3Com's
StorageConnect(TM) compatibility program and StorageTek's recently
announced compatibility program to create a cooperative certification of their
respective initiatives. Through cross-certification, StorageTek and 3Com
intend to assure customers of end-to-end interoperability. With its entrance
into the SAN market, 3Com has articulated its commitment to educating
storage companies and the industry at large about networking; promoting
standards; and aggressively driving the introduction of breakthrough
technologies for SANs. StorageTek's complementary vision encompasses all
aspects of storage and connectivity, emphasizing information-centric SAN
architectures. This vision places intelligence in the network devices to
maximize manageability and scalability while avoiding proprietary vendor
lock-in.
To help customers recognize the business value of SANs and accelerate
market delivery, both companies have invested heavily in testing facilities to
evaluate hardware and software configurations in heterogeneous
environments (see supporting StorageTek announcement issued today,
''StorageTek Launches Multi-million Dollar Lab Dedicated to Testing,
Certifying Open Storage Area Networks''). This relationship will initially
focus on the joint testing and certification of 3Com's StorageConnect
products with StorageTek's tape and disk storage, connectivity devices and
storage management software, resulting in the near-term delivery of
integrated, application-oriented SAN solutions.
StorageTek is a founding member of the Storage Networking Industry
Association (SNIA) and has been actively engineering the open industry
framework endorsed by this consortium of more than 100 members.
StorageTek is also a member of the Fibre Channel Community (FClC), the
Fibre Channel Association (FCA) and the StoreX Consortium. Together,
StorageTek and 3Com intend to lead the charge for open standards in
storage management, enabling customers to choose the best-in-class
components that can be integrated into a standard framework.
Beyond joint testing and delivery of open SAN solutions, 3Com and
StorageTek plan to explore and develop new technologies together to
expand the scope and application of SANs across enterprise environments.
The joint roadmap includes technology sharing and certification, and may be
expanded into development of new SAN technologies that will embrace
heterogeneous, switched environments, extended SAN management and
automated data movement.
Each of the SAN solutions deployed as part of this alliance will be maintained
by a proposed integrated 3Com/StorageTek support infrastructure. This
infrastructure leverages the core skills of both organizations in a seamless
fashion to provide the highest level of availability for SAN environments.
The SAN Opportunity
International Data Corp. (IDC) forecasts suggest that storage networks will
account for 37 percent of all external storage spending by 2002. That will
amount to a SAN market of roughly $11 billion. Confirming these estimates,
a recent survey of 400 U.S. chief information officers (CIOs) conducted by
Salomon Smith Barney found that 95 percent of respondents believe Fibre
Channel will be the primary interconnect for all new storage by 2001.
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