EMC Delivers World's First Multi-Platform Fibre Channel Storage Systems; Adds Sun Solaris Support to Symmetrix Heterogeneous Fibre Channel Solution.

HOPKINTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 1997--EMC Corporation today announced the world's only multi-platform Fibre Channel storage systems, for the first time enabling organizations with heterogeneous computing environments to take full advantage of the emerging Fibre Channel connectivity standard through EMC's industry-leading Symmetrix Enterprise Storage systems.

With the immediate availability of industry-standard Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) connectivity to Sun Solaris servers in both dedicated and shared multi-platform environments, Symmetrix intelligent storage systems become the first to provide simultaneous connectivity to multiple Fibre Channel UNIX-based servers. EMC has been shipping Symmetrix Fibre Channel connectivity for Hewlett-Packard HP-UX servers since August.

In addition, Symmetrix becomes the only single integrated storage system to provide simultaneous support for multiple Fibre Channel and other connectivity options. To date, more than one-third of Symmetrix systems shipped with Fibre Channel connections have included Fibre Channel and either open systems Fast-Wide Differential SCSI, Ultra SCSI or mainframe ESCON connections.

According to the newly released information management survey conducted for EMC by New York-based research firm Find/SVP, 94% of IT executives report they are consolidating their corporate information and disparate servers into their data centers. Symmetrix Fibre Channel connectivity assists this effort by enabling greater distances between servers and Symmetrix storage systems, and through support for the ever-increasing amounts of data and types of corporate applications.

Michael C. Ruettgers, EMC President and CEO, said, "In large numbers, Sun customers have realized that storage tied to individual processors has served to isolate corporate information, locking it away from delivering the most value to the business. Through the integration of Fibre Channel connectivity, EMC is helping customers virtually extend the walls of their data center and consolidate information from more servers across greater distances onto an EMC Symmetrix Enterprise Storage platform. Customers then are able to take advantage of advanced enterprise storage software and focus on the strategic value and longevity of centralized information management, sharing and protection."

"Organizations are just beginning to establish the infrastructure necessary to realize the benefits of Fibre Channel," Ruettgers said. "As we have seen in the early stages of nearly every emerging standard, Fibre Channel has become a lightning rod for grandiose promises. While others scramble to announce low-end point products that won't ship for months, EMC is helping customers build a solid Fibre Channel infrastructure today. As additional server adapters, storage network components and software drivers are brought to market over the next twelve months, EMC will build on its lead in helping customers implement the vision of Fibre Channel-enabled enterprise storage networks."

David Floyer, Research Director at Framingham, Mass.-based International Data Corporation (IDC), commented, "EMC continues to sustain a significant market advantage through its software and its ability to provide simultaneous support for multiple mainframe and open systems server types. The availability of Fibre Channel enhances this edge and makes Symmetrix an even more attractive choice for enterprise storage solutions."

Thomas Brosnan, Director of Data Center Planning at Cincinnati Bell Information Systems, said, "Because CBIS solutions produce more than 300 million bills each year, information is critical to the success of our business. We rely on over fifteen terabytes of EMC Symmetrix Enterprise Storage to manage and protect this information across a Sun, Hitachi, and IBM environment. With the distance, connectivity and performance advantages that Fibre Channel brings to the table, we can gain the benefits of consolidated enterprise storage and deploy IT resources faster when reacting to changes in our business."

David Bonney, Systems Architect at Boeing Corporation's McDonnell Aircraft and Missile Systems Division, commented, "As the leading producer of military aircraft, we track thousands of government contracts every day. We rely on EMC Symmetrix Enterprise Storage to handle this extensive customer database as well as all of our financial applications. Only EMC delivers the performance, data availability, connectivity and scalability we require to manage these staggering amounts of critical information. With the addition of Fibre Channel, EMC has more than doubled our throughput, while expanding our server connectivity and enhancing our business continuance solutions."

EMC has implemented industry-standard Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop, a high-speed serial data transfer interface used to connect computer and storage systems. Fibre Channel enables customers to keep servers located in the data center and in remote departments, while the data is centrally stored and managed. This strategy provides a centralized pool of consolidated information for a wide range of business-critical applications located throughout the enterprise.

The availability of Fibre Channel enables customers to attach servers and storage systems across distances up to 500 meters -- 20 times the 25-meter limitation of current Fast-Wide Differential SCSI channels. In addition, Fibre Channel increases channel throughput by a factor of five (100MB/sec vs. 20MB/sec for FWD SCSI).

Pricing and Availability

Symmetrix Fibre Channel connectivity for SUN Solaris servers is available immediately. U.S. list price for the Symmetrix Fibre Channel director is $35,000.

EMC Corporation, based in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, is the world's leading supplier of intelligent enterprise storage systems and software for mainframe and open systems environments. The company has offices worldwide, trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol EMC, and is a component of the S&P 500 Index. For further information about EMC products and services, EMC's home page can be accessed at http://www.emc.com

Symmetrix is a registered trademark, and EMC and EMC Enterprise Storage are trademarks of EMC Corporation. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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This release contains statements about future growth that are "forward-looking statements" under the Federal Securities Laws. Actual results could vary materially and there can be no assurance that these plans will be achieved. Factors that could cause actual results to vary materially include, but are not limited to: component quality and availability, transition to new products, changes in business conditions, changes in EMC's sales strategy and product development plans, changes in the data storage marketplace, competition between EMC and other companies that are currently in or may be entering the data storage market, competitive pricing pressures, delays in the development of new technology, changes in customer buying patterns, one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in EMC's filings at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

CONTACT: EMC Corporation

David Farmer, 508-435-1000 (Ext.77206)

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