Subj: ADIC Announces Full Support for Computer Associates'...
Date: 10/06/1998 5:21:28 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From: AOL News
ADIC Announces Full Support for Computer Associates' ARCserveIT; Tape Libraries and Software Part of Total Fibre Channel Storage Solution for Windows NT Networks
REDMOND Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 6, 1998--ADIC (NASDAQ:ADIC) announced today that it offers full hardware product options for backing up over Fibre Channel networks in conjunction with the new ARCserveIT Enterprise Library Option from Computer Associates (NYSE:CA).
The company reported that end users can now design and implement fully functional Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (SAN) configurations with dynamic drive sharing for Windows NT systems using standard, off-the-shelf hardware and software products.
"ADIC is pleased to be able to offer hardware support for the Fibre Channel backup capabilities of the new ARCserveIT Enterprise Library Option," commented Jonathan Otis, ADIC Vice-President of Product Development. "It signals the beginning of a new era of flexible, high performance, LAN-free backup. The coordinated work that the two companies have done will make it possible for CA customers to dynamically share their ADIC tape libraries and tape drives between multiple servers -- while giving each server the kind of data transfer performance now achievable only by direct SCSI channel connection. This architecture will create a paradigm shift in the way that IT departments store, protect, and access their data."
"CA and ADIC are partnering to give customers a high-performance Fibre Channel solution that can support critical application servers on a dedicated storage network, with fast, flexible backup-and-recovery facilities," said Yogesh Gupta, CA senior vice president of product strategy. "With ADIC hardware and the ARCserveIT Enterprise-based SANs, IT departments can gain unprecedented efficiency and scalability as they support increasingly data-intensive business operations."
Fibre Channel technology offers solutions to some of the most difficult data storage and backup problems facing IT managers confronted by exploding network data. In conventional backup schemes, high performance data transfer is achieved by attaching a tape backup system directly to each server. Other servers can use the same storage system only by bringing all the data over the network to the primary server, or by making a one-to-one connection between different drives in the tape system and specific servers (if there are four drives, for example, four servers could use one drive each). The first option clogs the network with data and degrades overall performance. The second severely limits bandwidth and wastes expensive resources -- when a server is not transferring data, drives dedicated to it are idle.
Fibre Channel technology and Storage Area Networks make it possible to separate the large-scale transfer of stored data -- backup, for example -- from other network traffic. Fibre Channel systems, enabled by the combination of backup software like the new ARCserveIT Enterprise Edition and backup hardware like ADIC's Scalar series tape libraries, allow a number of servers to dynamically share the drives in a single storage resource. For example, in a Fibre Channel system using a four-drive ADIC tape library as a central storage device, several servers can each use all four of the drives to backup or recover files. Each of these data transfers has all of the performance of a four-drive library directly attached to the server. To achieve that performance in a conventional backup scheme, four drives would need to be dedicated on a permanent basis to each server.
Dynamic drive sharing means faster backup performance, reduced network traffic, more efficient resource utilization, and more centralized -- hence more secure and more easily administered -- data storage. And because Fibre Channel technology transfers data at full speed over distances of up to 10 kilometers per link, it makes it easy for IT departments to centralize the data from many servers located in different locations in one central tape library.
"Fibre Channel technology and Storage Area Networking represent the future of networking," noted Michael Peterson, President of Strategic Research Corporation. "The externalization of storage, off the server bus, is the kind of technological innovation that will finally make it possible for IT organizations to keep up with the growing storage demands of the information age, without exponential increases in overhead. Both ADIC and Computer Associates are providing important leadership in producing proven, integrated, and manageable solutions that IT customers can trust."
ADIC has been one of the pioneers in the development of tape storage systems and interoperability products to support Fibre Channel backup. The company introduced the industry's first Fibre Channel-ready tape library -- the Scalar 218FC -- in late 1997, and it offers a complete family of Fibre Channel routers that allow legacy SCSI devices to be connected to Fibre Channel SANs. The company provides tape library products that can store from a few hundred gigabytes up to several petabytes (a petabyte is a 1000 terabytes), making them suitable for centralized storage in a wide variety of network applications.
About ADIC
Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, ADVANCED DIGITAL INFORMATION CORPORATION has been providing data storage solutions since its founding in 1983. With an installed base of more than 30,000 libraries, ADIC is the leading drive-independent supplier of automated tape libraries used to backup and archive electronic data in client/server network computing environments. The Company offers the broadest range of tape library products in the industry, backed by a worldwide field sales and service network. Marketed under the ADIC and EMASS names as well as those of OEM partners, these products are available with DLT, D2, half-inch, AIT (Sony), 4mm and 8mm tape drive technologies and are supported by leading suppliers of backup and storage management software products. The Company's own storage management software is an integrated family of software products including Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) and high performance direct access archive software, as well as volume management control software for libraries. During 1997, ADIC became a minority investor in Fibre Channel architecture pioneer Crossroads Systems Inc. and introduced a family of Fibre Channel routers for use in Storage Area Networks. In 1998, the Company announced a significant OEM supply partnership with Dell Computer Corporation (Nasdaq:DELL). Further product information is available via the Internet at adic.com and emass.com.
ADIC and EMASS are trademarks of Advanced Digital Information Corporation. ARCserveIT and Enterprise Library Option are trademarks of Computer Associates. All other product or company names should be considered the property of their owners.
CONTACT:
ADIC
Steve Whitner, 425/895-3435
stevew@adic.com
or
Sterling Communications
Paul Forecki, 253/853-5030
pforecki@sterlingpr.com
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