Hitachi Disk Drives First to Achieve 3Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI -- SAS -- Interoperability.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2004

LSI Logic Silicon Used to Verify End-to-End Interoperability

and SAS Protocol Compliance

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today announced successful testing of 3Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) disk drive interoperability with LSI Logic silicon. The LSISAS1064 controller, in a Host Bus Adapter configuration, enabled communication with Hitachi's enterprise hard disk drive ASIC. Verification of the 3Gb/s data transmission represents a key milestone for SAS and is a signal to the industry that development of the new high-speed storage interconnect is proceeding on schedule.

Interoperability verification keeps Hitachi on track to deliver 3Gb/s enterprise hard drives in 2004 that will provide new levels of system performance for bandwidth-intensive applications such as online transaction processing, data analysis and storage virtualization. SAS-based hard disk drives are expected to be used in an array of direct-attached and networked storage environments.

"Hitachi's development of a fully integrated 3Gb/s SAS hard disk controller is a testament to the strength of our engineering team and dedication to this emerging interface," said Fumio Kugiya, general manager, Server Business Unit, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "Technology breakthroughs and industry collaborations such as this will significantly accelerate the growth of Hitachi's enterprise hard drive business."

"With LSI Logic being first-to-market with SAS silicon, it demonstrates our commitment to being the industry leader as SCSI technology evolves," said David Steele, director of product planning and management for the LSI Logic Storage Standard Products division. "We've worked closely with disk drive manufacturers, including Hitachi GST, to assure that customers receive the benefits of SAS and SATA configuration flexibility along with SCSI legacy compatibility."

Driving Serial Attached SCSI Evolution

Hitachi marked a number of SAS-related milestones in 2003 that were designed to further the interface standard. These included collaborations with LSI Logic (http://lsilogic.com/storage) and other industry partners to share design implementations, performance testing results and similar information.

Hitachi GST (originally as IBM) and LSI Logic were among the founding members of the Serial Attached SCSI Working Group before submitting the emerging standard to the SCSI Trade Association and the T10 Committee. Both companies continue as active members of these two standards organizations. Hitachi GST is expecting to integrate SAS-based hard drives into its product portfolio in 2004.

SAS is widely considered to be the natural evolution of SCSI in enterprise environments. The standard defines a device-level enterprise storage interface incorporating the SCSI protocol, serial point-to-point interconnections, dual porting, increased addressability and the ability to scale to small form factors. Smaller connectors and cabling will also increase system densities and the use of small form factor devices.

About Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies was founded in 2003 as a result of the strategic combination of Hitachi's and IBM's storage technology businesses. The company's vision is to enable users to fully engage in the digital lifestyle by providing access to large amounts of storage capacity in formats suitable for the office, on the road and in the home.

The company offers customers worldwide a comprehensive range of storage products for desktop computers, high-performance servers and mobile devices. For more information on Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.hgst.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 340,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2002 (ended March 31, 2003) consolidated sales totaled 8,191.7 billion yen ($68.3 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors, including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.hitachi.com.