EqualLogic Announces Test Results from Microsoft Exchange Solution Reviewed Program (ESRP).

PS Series SAN Supports 10,000 and 20,000 Microsoft Exchange Server Mailboxes in Tests

NASHUA, N.H. -- EqualLogic[R], the leading provider of enterprise-class iSCSI storage area network (SAN) solutions, today announced the results of test reports that show the performance, efficiency and scalability of the EqualLogic PS Series storage arrays for Microsoft Exchange Server email environments.

The Microsoft Exchange Solution Reviewed Program (ESRP) was developed by Microsoft to provide a common testing framework for storage vendors to provide information about their products' support of Microsoft Exchange Server software. EqualLogic has published two reports on Microsoft's ESRP Web site showing an EqualLogic SAN consisting of PS3800XV storage arrays supporting 10,000 and 20,000 Microsoft Exchange users.

"The ESRP program gives Microsoft Exchange Server users valuable information on the compatibility, scalability and performance of storage systems for the unique demands of Exchange Server workloads," said Donna Conner, a group product manager at Microsoft Corp. "The results of EqualLogic's ESRP testing confirm the capabilities of iSCSI SANs for supporting very large Exchange Server implementations with an efficient number of disks."

The EqualLogic iSCSI SAN solution tested for supporting 10,000 Exchange Server users consisted of four EqualLogic PS3800XV storage arrays with 64 15,000-rpm Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) disk drives. The arrays were connected via a Cisco Catalyst switch and the Microsoft iSCSI software initiator to three Windows Server 2003 hosts supporting the 10,000 200-megabyte mailboxes. The PS Series SAN tested for supporting 20,000 Exchange Server users included eight PS3800XV arrays connected in a similar fashion to five Windows hosts.

Beyond the PS Series' ESRP test results, EqualLogic customers of all sizes have observed the product's ability to deliver high performance for critical Microsoft applications, particularly Exchange Server.

Hoover City Schools, the third largest school system in Alabama, enrolls more than 12,000 students and prides itself on providing national-award-winning education programs. Hoover's Chief Technology Officer Keith Price led a storage consolidation project that has improved the performance, reliability and data protection for the school district's IT infrastructure in the tornado-prone region. "We rely on the EqualLogic SAN to support Exchange Server and database services for more than 1,300 staff and student users. When we were evaluating various SANs, including Fibre Channel offerings, we required not only great performance for our Microsoft applications, but also the ability to protect our data with advanced disaster recovery options. EqualLogic met these needs and didn't require us to send staff to expensive training courses to learn how to use their products. We were up and running in minutes."

Safeway Insurance Group operates seven companies delivering affordable insurance to drivers in nine states across the country through a network of 2,400 agents. Safeway's Network Services Manager Mike Leather said, "When we consolidated storage onto a SAN, the primary goal was to improve performance for our top-priority Microsoft applications--SQL Server for our insurance database services and Exchange Server for our 450 employees' email. As soon as EqualLogic introduced the higher performance storage arrays with SAS disk drives, we evaluated them and immediately deployed them to boost performance in our highly transactional environment. Standardizing on EqualLogic's virtualized storage architecture is a no-brainer once you've seen the performance it delivers."

"EqualLogic is committed to providing managers of Microsoft-based IT environments high performance for their Exchange Server mail services, while delivering market-leading ease of use and all-inclusive data protection capabilities," said Eric Schott, senior director of product management at EqualLogic. "The ESRP testing highlights the PS Series' ability to support large, demanding Exchange environments with efficient use of disk resources."

The ESRP testing continues EqualLogic's close work and integration with Microsoft. EqualLogic is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a Windows Simple SAN Full Solution Partner. EqualLogic's iSCSI-based PS Series storage arrays are Windows Hardware Quality Labs qualified and integrate with Microsoft on a variety of levels--the operation system, applications and backup software.

About EqualLogic

EqualLogic([R]), Inc., is the leading provider of intelligent, enterprise-class iSCSI storage area network (SAN) solutions that enable businesses - from Fortune 100 to small and mid-size organizations in more than 30 countries worldwide - to realize the benefits of consolidated, self-managing storage. The EqualLogic PS Series of storage arrays, based on the company's patented peer storage architecture, is the industry's first automatic storage platform that delivers operational simplicity, comprehensive data management services and high data availability in a single, scalable pool of storage. EqualLogic's headquarters are located in Nashua, New Hampshire. For more information, please visit http://www.equallogic.com.

EqualLogic is a registered trademark of EqualLogic, Inc. Other marks belong to their respective owners.