Bus-Tech Announces zDASD 3990 Controller; IBM's TotalStorage Proven for FAStT and NAS Gateways.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 15, 2004

Bus-Tech(R), Inc., a leading supplier of data center connectivity products announced zDASD, a new product for connecting mainframes to IBM's FAStT and NAS Gateway products in support of DASD (ECKD) file access. zDASD connects to the mainframe using either FiCON or ESCON channels and can emulate up to sixty-four 3390 models 3, 9 or 27 storage volumes with alternate path support. The controller connects to IBM's FAStT arrays via Fibre Channel or to IBM's NAS Gateways via Gigabit Ethernet. The product has been extensively tested at IBM's facilities and has earned the distinction of being IBM TotalStorage Proven(TM) and IBM Storage Validated.

With the advances in Serial ATA disk technology in reliability, density and performance along with the capabilities of zDASD, customers now have the option of consolidating some of their mainframe data requirements to IBM's open-system storage platforms. All mainframe installations have storage requirements for data with varying performance requirements and importance, from OLTP data to fixed content reports. Today most, if not all, of this data resides on high-end DASD devices. With zDASD and IBM's open-system storage arrays, much of this data can be stored and accessed at much lower price points and can compliment a company's Information Lifecycle Management strategy.

"zDASD, and its ability to utilize open-system storage from IBM for mainframe DASD applications, will change the landscape in the mainframe storage arena," stated Bill Colestock, Director of Storage Business Unit at Mainline Information Systems. "The addition of FICON opens up new possibilities to implement a wide range of new uses for this class of storage."

Data written by a mainframe to devices attached to zDASD is stored on the FAStT or NAS Gateway in such a way as to allow the data to be retrieved in exactly the same format as it was stored. zDASD makes it transparent to the mainframe hardware and operating system that IBM's open-system storage is being used rather than traditional mainframe DASD volumes. zDASD supports IBM, and compatible mainframes for the z/OS, MVS, VM and VSE operating environments.

"Bus-Tech's recently announced zDASD appliance provides alternative mainframe DASD solutions to cost-conscious IT administrators by allowing its customers to leverage lower cost open-systems arrays including the new breed of ATA disks, for needed additional mainframe storage capacity," said John Webster, Senior Analyst of Data Mobility Group. "zDASD also offers significant value and return to IT administrators committed to ILM concepts; recognizing that not all online data has identical write/retrieve storage requirements, nor do all applications require the same levels of service."

zDASD with FiCON connectivity opens up tremendous new capabilities in both Disaster Recovery and Business Continuation. Because of the full-duplex data transfer and multiplexing capabilities of FiCON it can support distances of up to 100km without bandwidth degradation. This will allow customers to replicate their data to remote data stores and access that data from their DR site, all at FiCON performance levels. During testing of zDASD, throughput performance, utilizing large block sizes, was measured in excess of 50 Megabytes per second.

About Bus-Tech, Inc.

Bus-Tech, Inc. founded in 1987 is the industry's leading provider of state-of-the-art connectivity solution for the data center to Original Equipment Manufacturers. The company's powerful suite of adapter and platform solution satisfy even the most rugged demands of data processing professionals for high-bandwidth, high-availability, and high-performance connectivity. With more than 15,000 installed sites worldwide, Bus-Tech is a recognized leader in the data center interconnect market. Headquartered in Burlington, MA, the company is privately held with location around the world. For more information about Bus-Tech and its products, please visit the Bus-Tech World Wide Web site at http://www.bustech.com, send e-mail to [e-mail] or call 800-284-3172 or 781-272-8200.

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