Certance Introduces 1U Rackmount Data Protection Solution for Small, Medium-Sized Businesses; DAT 72-Based, 144GB Capacity at 50GB/Hour Provides Lowest TCO in 1U Compact Blade.

Business Editors

COSTA MESA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 2003

Certance, a world leader in cost-effective data protection for companies of all sizes, today introduced the first in its new series of rackmount data protection solutions. With the new-generation Certance DAT 72 tape drive at its core and Certance technological advances implemented throughout to ensure reliability and longevity, the 1U rackmount is designed to meet the consistently growing data storage and archiving needs of small and medium-sized businesses.

At a starting MSRP of less than $1499, the 1U rackmount, a 1.75-inch-tall rackmount unit, is designed to deliver a powerful, cost-effective tape backup, restore and archival option for entry-server users that require business continuance. The 1U comes equipped with up to two Certance DAT 72 drives, and is capable of holding as much as 144 gigabytes (GBs) of information, with data transfer speed of up to 50GBs per hour, and is backward-compatible with DDS-3 and DDS-4 tapes.

In addition, the 1U incorporates Certance's exclusive TapeShield(TM) and SmartShield(TM) technologies, introduced last month, providing users with the highest level of reliability in the mid-tier segment. TapeShield features an environmentally sealed chamber design that dramatically decreases tape drive contamination, thus increasing tape life and data integrity. SmartShield enables users to recover data from fragmented DDS-based tape tracks, even if they were not initially written on Certance tape drives. This new feature is a significant step forward in terms of improving "restore" reliability with problematic tape media that are either written out-of-spec or have a weak signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

"The 1U delivers a total package that provides clear benefits to our middle market customers," said Patrick Nunez, vice president -- IT Services, Coastline Micro, with headquarters in Irvine, Calif. "These customers face many of the same challenges that larger firms experience: greater storage loads, reduced backup windows, less available physical space for more storage and a limited budget. Other options on the market have required our customers to do or spend far more than they have budgeted. The Certance 1U rackmount incorporates all of the elements they need, and meets their challenges in an easily administered solution."

"The philosophy that led to the rackmount family of data protection solutions is centered on demonstrable value, designed to benefit both our channel partners and their customers," said Mike Lakowicz, Certance's vice president, product strategy and business development. "It has become important to understand the total cost of ownership. Certance has built its reputation building and marketing products that hold their value and deliver reliable performance to small and mid-sized businesses for years. Certance rackmount solutions are being built and designed consistent with that focus, ensuring that our commitment to quality remains constant."

The Certance DAT 72 1U rackmount units are available through the company's worldwide network of channel partners and systems integrators, as well as through Certance's online store at http://shop.Certance.com.

About Certance

Certance is a worldwide market leader in tape backup products and data protection solutions, with more than 12 million drives installed. With headquarters in Costa Mesa, Certance provides a full array of data recovery solutions, including LTO Ultrium, DDS/DAT and Travan technologies, designed to meet the backup, restore and archive needs of virtually every platform from notebooks and PCs to enterprise servers. A Seagate affiliate, Certance can be found around the globe and at www.certance.com.

Note to Editors: Certance and the Certance logo are trademarks of Certance LLC. TapeStor is a trademark or registered trademark of Certance LLC. Seagate and Seagate Technology are registered trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are owned by their respective owners. Certance reserves the right to change, without notice, product offerings or specifications.