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To: Mark Fowler who wrote (76892)	9/8/1999 12:37:00 AM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

>> Washington, Sept. 7 (Bloomberg) -- JNI Corp., a manufacturer seeking to capitalize on a new technology for computer storage networks, will seek to raise as much $80 million through an initial public offering. The San Diego-based company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell common shares. Proceeds will be used to repay debt and provide working capital. The shares represent an investment in fiber channel technology, a host of devices that are designed to improve the performance of storage area networks. Such networks, comprised of computer servers and devices for storing data, have become more popular as companies must process and store increased amounts of digital information. Servers and storage devices traditionally have communicated through a protocol known as small computer systems interface, or SCSI. Fiber channel technology has been developed to overcome several limitations inherent to SCSI. For one, to transmit data at optimal speeds, storage devices linked to servers through SCSI must be physically located within 14 meters of their servers; fiber channel technology lengthens this distance to 10 kilometers. Similarly, SCSI networks can only accommodate 15 storage devices per controller versus 126 devices for fiber channel networks. Fiber channel is an emerging technology and has yet to cement its place in the computer industry. International Data Corp., in estimates quoted by JNI in a registration statement with the SEC, projected though that the market for products based on fiber channel technology is expected to increase to $15 billion by 2002 from $2 billion last year. JNI manufactures fiber channel devices known as host bus adapters that provide the bridge between a storage area network and a computer bus, the internal communication pathway between the central processing unit and internal memory or peripheral devices. The company says it is the leading independent supplier of host bus adapters for the Sun Solaris operating system manufactured by Sun Microsystems Inc. JNI, though, also lists Sun Microsystems as one of its chief competitors for one type of host bus adapter. Altogether, there are about 200 companies competing for different parts of the fiber channel market, according to Mike Fitzpatrick, chairman of the Fiber Channel Industry Association. Terry Flanagan is the company's chief executive. He previously worked for Jaycor Inc., an affiliate of JNI. Underwriters for the stock sale will include Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette; Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.; and Hambrecht & Quist. JNI will seek to have its shares trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol JNIC.