Technology Leaders Endorse Open Storage Networking Initiative
Initiative's Goal: Data Anywhere, Anytime via Integrated Servers, Switches, and Storage Devices
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 2000--Network Appliance (Nasdaq: NTAP), the leading provider of network-attached data access and content management solutions, and ATL, an element of Quantum's DLT and storage systems group (NYSE: DSS), a leading supplier of intelligent DLTtape(TM) automation for networked computers, announced today that they have formed the Open Storage Networking (OSN) initiative with Amdahl, Cisco Systems, Foundry Networks (Nasdaq: FDRY), Legato Systems, and VERITAS Software.
OSN is designed to define an open architecture and roadmap for continuous access and availability to data with best-in-class performance and industry-leading value. OSN also aims to accelerate the adoption of truly open storage networking solutions and further the maturity, management capability, and performance of current and future storage network architectures. The OSN initiative will allow companies migrating to high-availability storage networking architectures to follow a "best-practices approach" along with certified hardware and software configurations.
"OSN delivers on the promise of storage networking today -- with existing standards, technologies, interoperability, and multivendor support," said Mark Santora, vice president of marketing at Network Appliance. "Customers have been waiting for storage networking to materialize. OSN makes it real, easy to deploy and manage, and available immediately."
"We are pleased to be working with other technology leaders to provide an integrated solution to meet the demands of enterprise and e-business customers for high performance, high availability network storage solutions," said Kevin Daly, president and CEO of ATL. "ATL's world-class customer support organization will provide a single point of contact for all technical support, configuration, and installation for the complete backup solution."
The initiative's architecture will enable compute servers, storage appliances, automated tape libraries, and network switching equipment to combine seamlessly into enterprise-class systems and ensure data is accessible anywhere via industry-standard networks, and that it is replicated, protected, and easily brought back on-line in the event of a disaster. By using industry-standard data management protocols, such as NDMP, the architecture ensures interoperability in a multivendor data server environment.
In addition, the storage networking architecture is designed to leverage the existing investment organizations have made in networking and storage equipment, personnel, application software, systems and storage management tools, and security. Within eighteen months, the bandwidth of this architecture is expected to increase by a factor of 10 with the advent of 10Gb Ethernet.
With OSN, corporations can easily scale the storage needed and demanded by database, Internet, e-commerce, and engineering applications. OSN systems will also deliver lower levels of operating overhead and can add increments of both storage capacity and network bandwidth dynamically and on demand. Among the most important features of this architecture are:
-- "Plug and play" deployment
-- Seamless integration of primary and secondary storage
-- Effortless UNIX(R)/Windows NT(R) data sharing
-- Use of industry-standard protocols such as NDMP
-- Widespread availability of interoperable systems and devices
-- Availability of mature, standards-compliant management
software
-- Economics associated with the already huge volume of
networking gear currently deployed
OSN participants will work together and with customers to provide solutions "blueprints" to make OSN deployments easy, and to highlight particular application benefits. Any vendor who can provide open, standards-based, interoperable solutions for OSN environments is welcome to become a participant in the OSN initiative.
About QuantumATL
QuantumATL is a worldwide market leader in the design, manufacture, and service of automated tape libraries used to manage, store, and transfer data in enterprise networked computing environments. The company's DLTtape library systems are sold worldwide through direct sales, OEMs, and an extensive network of authorized resellers and distributors. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., the company operates one of the world's largest manufacturing facilities for DLTtape automation technology and complies with ISO 9001 quality system standards. ATL also provides sales and service throughout major cities in North America, Europe, and Asia. For additional information, contact ATL, 101 Innovation Drive, Irvine, CA 92612-3040; telephone: 949/856-7800; fax: 949/856-7799; or visit the company's Web site at www.atlp.com.
About Network Appliance
Network Appliance, a veteran in network file serving and caching, has been providing data access solutions since 1992 and is a member of both the S+P 500 and NASDAQ 100 index. Major corporations and ISPs, including Lycos, Yahoo!, Citicorp Securities, Siemens, Lockheed, Cisco, Motorola, and Texas Instruments have deployed NetApp(R) solutions. NetApp Internet caching solutions (NetCache(TM) appliances) and file servers ("filers") deliver fast, simple, reliable, and cost-effective access to network-stored data and enable simultaneous shared file services for UNIX, Windows NT, and the World Wide Web.
The company pioneered the concept of the "network appliance," an extension of the industry trend toward dedicated, specialized products that perform a single function. Network Appliance(TM) filers and NetCache appliances are based on the company's innovative data access software known as the Data ONTAP(TM) operating system and standards-compliant hardware. More information is available at www.netapp.com.
Editorial Addendum: Testimonial Quotes and OSN Participant Contacts
OSN Participant Quotes
Amdahl
Press Contact Marketing Contact
Perry Marlon Victor Gamaly
408/746-8303 408/746-6125
perry_marlon@amdahl.com victor_gamaly@amdahl.com
"Amdahl is excited to be a supporter of the Open Storage Networking initiative. Amdahl's focus is working with customers to address real issues. Data management is a key challenge and our products and services are providing immediate value to customers in this regard. Amdahl believes that by focusing on the solution rather than the components of the solution, we will significantly advance their business interests. Amdahl is prepared to support customers moving forward with evaluating how the solutions made possible by the Open Storage Networking Initiative can be applied to solve critical business issues today," said Peter Robinson, director, Amdahl Storage Marketing.
Cisco Systems
Press Contact Marketing Contact
Terry Anderson Duncan Potter
408/525-7188 djpotter@cisco.com
terrande@cisco.com
"The OSN initiative mirrors a core Cisco value -- delivery of
open, standards-based systems, like Gigabit Ethernet and IP, that
provide customers with the flexibility to create the network
architecture best suited to their changing needs," said Soni Jiandani,
vice president of marketing for Cisco's Enterprise Workgroup Business
Unit. "The emerging demand for storage networking solutions is an
excellent example of our ability to provide customers with both
investment protection and agility as new network requirements arise."
Foundry Networks
Press Contact Marketing Contact
Jenni Brumfield Bob Erwin
408/586-1751 408/586-1920
jenni@foundrynet.com berwin@foundrynet.com
"Foundry Networks is excited to support the storage industry's
move to embrace a true open network solution utilizing Gigabit
Ethernet. Gigabit Ethernet provides excellent performance and network
simplicity at a great price. As the first Gigabit Ethernet switch
provider and long time performance leader, Foundry brings to the OSN
initiative proven expertise in wire-speed, high port density and
reliable switch design," said Bobby Johnson, president and CEO of
Foundry Networks.
Legato Systems
Press Contact Marketing Contact
Jerry Gowen Kati Nelson
801/437-8148 650/842-9504
jgowen@legato.com knelson@legato.com
"By leveraging the existing networking infrastructure, the OSN initiative complements other, emerging architectures and extends the promise of storage networking by providing new options for customers based on proven, standard technologies," said Scott McIntyre, Business Line manager for Storage Networking at Legato Systems. "Legato is committed to open, interoperable storage networks, as evidenced by our role as co-developers of NDMP, and by the Legato SAN Ready and Celestra Consortium programs, both of which are designed to provide interoperable storage networking solutions. Our participation in the OSN initiative is a natural fit with this commitment."
VERITAS Software Press Contact Kathleen Phelps-Schroeder 805/783-4542 kathleen.phelps@veritas.com
"VERITAS Software is committed to providing our customers with industry-leading storage management applications," said Jan Jentz, director of SAN strategies, VERITAS Software. "By participating in the OSN initiative, we continue to support the development of SAN standards to increase interoperability and availability across the infrastructure of their choice."
Customer Quotes
Medizeus
Harris Bergman, co-founder and chief technology officer for Medizeus stated, "Medizeus utilizes an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) database to provide an electronic second opinion for mammogram readings. We improve the accuracy and timely reporting of mammogram results. As mammograms are added to the database, the accuracy increases, ultimately allowing women to become part of the solution to detecting and treating breast cancer in the earliest stages of the disease." According to Bergman, "the real power behind Medizeus' technology is our mammography database. An application of this kind just wasn't possible in the past -- the storage and bandwidth requirements are just too great. Open Storage Networking will be essential to us as we move forward into storing petabytes of medical images in multiple data centers accessed by several different computing platforms."
Note to editors: NetApp and the Network Appliance logo are registered trademarks and Network Appliance, NetCache, and Data ONTAP are trademarks of Network Appliance, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Windows and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Limited. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such.
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Contact:
Network Appliance, Inc.
Eric Brown, 408/822-3463
ebrown@netapp.com
or
Quantum/ATL
Donna Walden, 949/856-7905
donna.walden@atlp.com |
