Amdahl's Storage Area Network Solution Supports Data Access across the Enterprise.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 6, 1999--

Complete hardware, software, and services solution allows

information sharing for better business management

Amdahl(R) Corporation today announced details of its Storage Area Network (SAN) initiative, including the release of several SAN-related products. Amdahl's SAN initiative provides the tools to allow IT organizations to manage, track, and exploit their data across the enterprise through a variety of easily configurable interconnections. All components have been "interoperability tested" and are customer ready. With these tools, Amdahl customers can "seamlessly" create and move data across multiple storage networks.

The Amdahl SAN solution will help organizations take advantage of the explosion in data due to the global deployment of data warehousing and Internet and E-commerce applications. Users can expect higher levels of performance and reliability when accessing data and relief for overwhelmed data networks and systems. "New, high-speed, low- latency methods for data networking and server and storage interconnects are needed," said David West, vice president, Systems Marketing at Amdahl Corporation, "and Amdahl's robust Storage Area Network solution is key to solving the problem."

Amdahl Background

Since early 1990, mainframes and data centers have been using a network interface for storage called ESCON to connect mainframes to multiple storage systems. ESCON is a serial, fiber optic, point-to-point switched network that enables the connecting of tape, disk, and printing devices to MVS hosts. This type of network is called a storage area network. Amdahl has been working with ESCON SANs since their introduction.

Amdahl has also been working with industry organizations to help in the development of SAN standards over the past several years. These associations include the Fibre Channel Association (FCA), the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA), and the Fibre Channel Loop Committee (FCLC). Amdahl exchanges technical information with selected vendors, which has led to continuous improvement of the interoperability of Fibre Channel products.

SAN Components

SANs comprise storage subsystems and storage devices, server systems, Fibre Channel interconnects (hubs and switches), and management software. Amdahl provides the LVS Fibre Channel attached RAID storage subsystem to meet the requirements of high-performance and high-capacity systems running mission-critical applications. LVS supports RAID levels 0, 1, 3, 5 and 0+1, and utilizes Fibre Channel industry-standard attachment for operation in the Solaris, HP-UX, Windows NT(R), and AIX environments.

Amdahl provides Intelligent Hub and enterprise Fabric Switch interconnects from strategic alliance relationships with Vixel Corporation and McDATA Corporation. The Amdahl hub provides flexible connectivity options for attaching multiple Fibre Channel hosts and servers. This 12-port intelligent hub with management software enables dynamic attachment of new devices and supports up to 100 MB/sec data transmission speeds between server and storage subsystems. The hub is a cost-effective entry point for workgroups and smaller departments. Amdahl also furnishes 2 switches, a departmental switch with 16 ports and optional high-availability features, plus an enterprise Director with 32 ports, which includes the high-availability features required by data center managers. Both switches offer any-to-any dynamic switching at 100 MB/sec performance per port. Both switches include fabric connectivity management software that provides enterprise-wide, centralized control.

In addition to supporting Fibre interconnects, Amdahl offers teamserver(R), an award-winning Windows NT Intel-based platform, from its parent Fujitsu Limited. Amdahl is also one of Sun Microsystems' largest systems integrators and is focused on delivering client/server environments based around high-end, data center, Sun servers. The testing and integration of these platforms is a critical component of the Amdahl SAN initiative. The integration of third-party software products supporting clustering, high availability, backup, and tape and storage management is addressed through testing and certification with leading independent companies such as Legato Systems, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, and Veritas Software.

Amdahl's Data Management consulting practice provides the design and deployment of Fibre infrastructure, and Amdahl's Product Support Services delivers the ongoing maintenance of the many hardware components within a SAN infrastructure. The consulting practice and the support services are delivered through Amdahl Global Solutions.

The Amdahl SAN solution helps businesses maximize access, flow, and protection of information, any time and anywhere.

About Open Systems Storage Products: http://www.amdahl.com/doc/products/ess/start.html

About Amdahl Corporation: www.amdahl.com/about

For the Year 2000 compliance status of this offering and any others, visit the Amdahl Year 2000 Web site at: www.amdahl.com/y2k

Amdahl is a registered trademark and LVS is a trademark of Amdahl Corporation. Fujitsu and teamserver are registered trademarks of Fujitsu Limited. MVS and ESCON are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. Windows NT is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation used under license. All other trademarks and product names are the property of their respective owners.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Amdahl news releases are available on the Internet at www.amdahl.com, the Amdahl Corporation home page. The Amdahl site provides current, in-depth information on Amdahl offerings and solutions for enterprise computing.