Hitachi Data Systems Validates Interoperability of Storage With Oracle Parallel Server On Major Open-Systems Platforms.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 1, 1998--Just one month after highlighting an expansion of its long-standing relationship with Oracle Corp., Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) today announced some key steps toward delivering the benefits of this alliance to its customers. HDS, in cooperation with Oracle, reported it has completed tests validating the interoperability of Hitachi Freedom Storage(TM) products and Oracle Parallel Server(R) (OPS) running on widely used UNIX(R)-based platforms. It was also verified that Hitachi Freedom Storage is completely compatible with OPS on Intel(R)-based Windows NT(R) servers.

OPS, an option of Oracle 8(TM) Enterprise Edition, provides a unique database solution for enterprise customers seeking fault tolerance, availability, and scalability for their mission-critical systems. The Parallel Server option permits users and applications running on any node of a loosely coupled system, either in a cluster or on a massively parallel processing platform, to access all data in a database. This allows OPS to exploit the full processing power of multiple machines running high performance applications such as on-line transaction processing (OLTP) and data warehousing.

Validation of Hitachi Freedom Storage for use with OPS is another important step toward fully implementing HDS' vision of accessing any data from any computer, anywhere, at any time.

The Hitachi Freedom Storage family includes the multi-platform Freedom 7700E for use in data centers, the just-announced Freedom 5800, which is ideally suited for clustered server and Storage Area Network environments, and the Freedom 5700E for use in distributed environments. Interoperability with OPS has been proven for all members of the Hitachi Freedom Storage family when used with HP-UX(R), Solaris(R), and Windows NT(R) operating systems. Interoperability of the Freedom 7700E and 5700E with OPS on Digital UNIX has also been validated. HDS is continuing its interoperability testing with Oracle to broaden the range of open-systems options for customers.

Hitachi Freedom Storage and the Oracle Parallel Server are each designed for high performance, scalability and availability in clustered-server environments. Together they offer a solution that allows customers to seamlessly and non-disruptively add servers and storage capacity to support rapidly growing corporate databases.

"Customers want assurance that our storage systems provide high-availability support for the applications they depend on," said James E. Harris, HDS Group Vice President, Global and Alliances. "That's why we're focusing on application-based solutions. Now that we've proved the interoperability of the Hitachi Freedom Storage subsystems and Oracle's Parallel Server, open-systems users will have a compelling solution for high-performance, high-availability operations."

About Hitachi Data Systems

Hitachi Data Systems markets high-performance enterprise servers, storage systems, and professional services worldwide. HDS meets its customers' computing needs with the broadest line of the highest performance S/390(R)-compatible servers in the world, including the HDS Skyline Series(TM) and the HDS Pilot Series(TM), as well as the Hitachi Freedom Storage(TM) subsystems which provide multi-platform support across S/390, UNIX, and NT environments. Owned by Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT) and Electronic Data Systems (NYSE:EDS), HDS is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The company employs 2,300 people and operates in 30 countries worldwide. For online information about HDS' products and services, access www.hds.com on the World Wide Web.

Hitachi Data Systems is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd. HDS Skyline Series, HDS Pilot Series, and Hitachi Freedom Storage are trademarks of Hitachi Data Systems Corporation. Oracle8 Enterprise Edition and Oracle Parallel Server are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. HP-UX is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company.

S/390 and OS/390 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Limited. Solaris is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Windows NT is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other brand or product names are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify, products or services of their respective owners.