IP Storage Leaders Plan for iSCSI Market Growth at the Storage Industry Association's Annual Winter Symposium.

IP Storage Forum Unveils Education and Outreach Programs for 2007

SAN FRANCISCO -- At the Storage Networking Industry Association's (SNIA) recent Winter Symposium, the SNIA IP Storage Forum (IPSF) introduced its newly elected leadership team and outlined their plans to further drive the adoption of IP-based Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions through global marketing initiatives and end-user education during 2007.

The IPSF is composed of leading computer, data storage and data management vendors as well as resellers dedicated to providing the IT community with vendor-neutral information, education and exposure to IP-based SAN storage technologies. The IPSF governing board for 2007 consists of: chair, David Dale of Network Appliance; vice chair, Prasad Pammidimukkala of Brocade; treasurer, Doug Rainbolt of Alacritech; marketing director, Robbin Higby of EqualLogic; and business development director, Don Mead of FalconStor Software.

"2006 was another successful year for iSCSI SAN technologies as they solidified their position as a robust and affordable storage solution, replacing direct-attached storage for mission critical Windows environments," said David Dale, SNIA IP Storage Forum chair. "We anticipate continued growth in 2007, as complete and robust solutions for Linux, Unix and virtual server environments gain traction, and 10Gb Ethernet based solutions drive the technology into high performance environments."

With estimates by the Enterprise Strategy Group of more than 25,000 customer deployments of iSCSI-based SANs worldwide, many analysts now view IP Storage as an appropriate solution for business critical IT environments.

"It is our view that iSCSI has entered the early mainstream," said Tony Asaro, senior analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. "We recently completed research that surveyed 511 IT end user companies of all sizes and industries. 17 percent had adopted iSCSI, and another 20 percent planned to implement within the next 12 to 24 months. Combined, this represents 37 percent of the total respondents. We see this as real validation that iSCSI is a viable alternative to Fibre Channel that early adopters claim is less expensive and much easier to manage. We believe that the iSCSI momentum is unstoppable."

IDC views iSCSI as the fastest-growing area of the storage market - with an expected 73 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for 2006-2010, and the market reaching $5.1B in 2010 (source: IDC Storage Tracker, Fall 2006).

The IP Storage Forum's agenda for 2007 builds on their successes of the past two years. End-user education around the world through seminars, SNIA tutorials, industry events and hands-on demonstrations remains a primary focus. Additional SNIA tutorials about iSCSI will be added for inclusion in SNW and SNIA Academy events around the world. The Forum will continue to create fact sheets, contributed articles, deployment case studies and technology positioning materials to provide vendor-neutral industry education which complements member companies' individual marketing initiatives and materials.

Additionally, the IPSF will deliver a significant update to the IPSF website (www.snia.org/ipstorage), which now features an IP Storage Product Showcase and an IP Storage Solutions Directory. The Solutions Directory in particular provides solutions briefs, case studies and best practices for the key critical areas where IP storage is being deployed today: Storage Consolidation, Simplified Backup and Recovery using Snapshot Technology, Multi-Tier Data Protections, Remote Office Automation and Data Integration, Simplified Disaster Recovery using Ethernet-Based Storage Networking, Integrating SAN islands and using the WAN for Remote Backup consolidation.

For more information, visit www.snia.org/ipstorage/home and click on the tabs at the top for Solutions Directory and Product Showcase.

About the SNIA

The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) is a not-for-profit global organization made up of more than 420 active member companies plus their worldwide affiliates and close to 7,100 active individuals spanning virtually the entire storage industry. SNIA members share the common goal of advancing the adoption of storage networks as complete and trusted solutions. To this end, the SNIA is uniquely committed to delivering standards, education and services that will propel open storage networking solutions into the broader market. For additional information, visit the SNIA web site at http://www.snia.org.

About the SNIA IP Storage Forum

The IP Storage Forum is a SNIA Forum focused on driving the broad adoption of IP-based SAN storage solutions. The IP Storage Forum works closely with the SNIA-Europe IP Storage Initiative committee, and the SNIA International committee, to deliver its IP Storage message around the world.

About the SNIA IP Storage Initiative (IPSI) in Europe

The SNIA-Europe IP Storage Initiative is the sister organization of the IP Storage Forum and is focused on driving the broad adoption of IP-based SAN storage solutions in Europe through evangelism, education and promotion. For more information, visit http://www.snia-europe.org/.