AlphaStor Media Management Solution Enhances Protection of Microsoft Exchange Data in a Compaq StorageWorks SAN Environment.

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 6, 2001

Leading financial services company implements AlphaStor in SAN environment to complement Legato NetWorker; device and library sharing

capabilities allow full utilization of storage hardware

AlphaStor(TM), a worldwide storage management software and services provider, today announced that it has successfully implemented its AlphaStor media management software into the Storage Area Network (SAN) environment of a large, worldwide financial services company. AlphaStor is a next-generation media management software solution that provides open systems environments with mainframe-class media management; device and library sharing in a SAN environment; and a universal interface for managing day-to-day operations from a single web-based console.

In November 2000, this large financial services company initiated a project to meet expanded data protection and high availability requirements for its Microsoft(R) Exchange(R) environment. Exchange was considered a mission critical application. In order to meet these requirements and to ensure scalability for future growth, the company chose to implement a separate, highly available SAN dedicated to the Exchange application.

The SAN, designed and implemented based on the Compaq(TM) StorageWorks(TM) products, includes seven production Exchange servers and one standby Exchange server. The standby server is used for restores in the event of a failure of one of the production servers or for ad-hoc email recovery requests. Legato(R) (Nasdaq:LGTO) NetWorker(R) handles backup and restore requirements for all servers. The company worked with StorNet, a leading national provider of networked storage services, early in the SAN design, and quickly recognized what many organizations are learning regarding SAN implementation: advanced management software is essential in order to get maximum value from SAN investments.

"In order to maximize the SAN investment, this financial services company realized that it needed a management solution that was tightly integrated with and worked cooperatively with NetWorker," stated Colleen Wallau, Account Executive for StorNet. "The company also required that the solution's integration with NetWorker be comprehensive enough to allow operations personnel to manage the environment with one interface. Further, the solution had to have the ability to automate device sharing and library management functions."

"Following a thorough requirements analysis and a review of the available alternatives, we agreed that AlphaStor was the only solution that could meet the company's stringent requirements and standards for excellence," Ms. Wallau continued.

AlphaStor was fully implemented into the SAN environment in December 2000. The AlphaStor team assisted in the implementation effort and provided the necessary support services to be fully successful. Today, AlphaStor and NetWorker continue to run successfully in this production environment, providing the company with the following benefits:

-- Ability to share media across all servers thereby allowing the standby
server to be available for restores, regardless of which server completed the
backup.

-- Increased utilization of storage resources by sharing devices and libraries
across multiple Legato NetWorker Data Zones on multiple NT servers.

-- Comprehensive tape life cycle management for on-site and off-site tapes.

-- Improved disaster prevention by allowing recovery of media to a separate
Storage Node.

-- Consolidated operations across all backup servers via a web-based interface,
helping to decrease personnel and training costs.

-- Consolidated reporting and visibility of media, device, and library usage.

"The ability of the AlphaStor solution to meet stringent requirements and provide customer satisfaction in such an important account further increases our confidence in this solution," commented Wallau. "As a storage solutions provider, each customer success is critical. We look forward to providing AlphaStor to other customers requiring enhanced NetWorker functionality."

More About the AlphaStor Solution

    -   Off-site Tape Rotation Management - AlphaStor's full tape life
        cycle management features provide NetWorker users with
        immediate access to tapes, even after tapes leave the library
        and are rotated off-site. NetWorker users utilize tape
        retention policies defined within NetWorker and have the
        ability to define additional policies for rotation and
        off-site tape tracking. Recovery times are improved because
        users can quickly locate tapes. Also, the need to manually
        track tapes in spreadsheets is eliminated, reducing personnel
        costs and improving data integrity.

    -   Storage Resource Sharing - AlphaStor allows NetWorker
        customers to share tape devices and libraries across multiple
        NetWorker Backup Servers or data zones, and across a number of
        supported hardware platforms. This feature enables NetWorker
        users to get more mileage out of devices and libraries that
        today are typically used less than 30% of the time. AlphaStor
        supports most libraries, and allows even the IBM(R) 3494,
        StorageTek(R) PowderHorn(TM) and WolfCreek(TM), and ADIC/EMASS
        Grau libraries to be shared among all NetWorker Servers and
        Storage Nodes. Because it enables storage resource sharing,
        AlphaStor allows NetWorker users to better utilize their
        resources, contain their storage costs, and more proactively
        plan for future hardware acquisitions.

    -   Consolidated Reporting - AlphaStor provides NetWorker
        administrators with consolidated reporting of all media,
        device, and library usage across all NetWorker data zones via
        its web-based interface. All NetWorker information, including
        media usage by data zone, scratch pool reporting, and other
        management reports, can be viewed from one place. This feature
        simplifies administration, improves visibility of the storage
        environment, and reduces training and personnel costs.

About the Company

AlphaStor is a storage management software and services organization that develops and globally distributes advanced solutions to the open systems market. These solutions provide enterprise-class media life cycle management, and tape device and library sharing in a SAN environment. AlphaStor's products include a suite of Enterprise Media Management modules that automate the allocation of storage devices across multiple backup servers and track the physical location of tapes as they are used throughout their life cycle. AlphaStor solutions reduce costs by allowing customers to maximize the use of storage assets, keep track of onsite and offsite tapes, and access a consolidated view of media, device, and library usage.

AlphaStor is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio and is an affiliate of SCH Technologies. For more information on AlphaStor Software, call 888-724-6736 or 513-579-0455, email [e-mail], or visit www.alphastor.com.

AlphaStor is a trademark of SCH Technologies. Legato and Legato NetWorker are registered trademarks of Legato Systems, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks or service marks and company names are the property of their respective owners.