Panasas Unveils The ActiveScale Storage Cluster; Largest Linux Storage Sale in History, a Result of World Record Performance.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 20, 2003

Panasas, Inc. today announced the Panasas ActiveScale Storage Cluster, the premier storage system for scalable Linux clusters. Based on a breakthrough object-based storage clustering design, the Panasas storage cluster can deliver up to 30 times more throughput than leading systems by reading and writing multiple gigabytes of data per second to a single Panasas system. In addition, the Panasas storage cluster sets an industry record random I/O performance result of 305,805 SFS operations per second(1). This unprecedented performance has resulted in numerous customer sales including the largest storage capacity contract in history for a Linux cluster: Los Alamos National Laboratory has signed an exclusive contract with Panasas to purchase up to 600 TB over the next twelve months.

Already in production, Panasas has gathered many customers in addition to Los Alamos. These include: GeoTrace Technologies, NuTec Energy, The Rockefeller University Laboratory for Computational Genomics, Sandia National Laboratory, the University of California at Berkeley Center for Integrative Genomics and the University of California at San Diego Center for Marine Genomics.

"Our rapid customer adoption validates the need for a new storage architecture to unlock the full potential of Linux clusters," said Rodney Schrock, president & CEO of Panasas. "The Panasas Storage Cluster moves the industry far beyond any other storage system on the market today."

"We continue to be impressed with just how rapidly the Linux cluster market is taking off. This new compute paradigm will need a matching new storage methodology, and what we've seen from Panasas so far puts them in a very elite group capable of taking a leadership role," said Steve Duplessie, president of Enterprise Storage Group. "This is one of those rare inflection points in technology, and that means there will be room for new players with new ideas. So far, I like the way Panasas thinks."

Panasas ActiveScale Object-Based Storage Clustering

The emergence of Linux "scale out" server clustering is driving a new approach to scalable computing for demanding technical and commercial applications. To unlock the potential of these compute clusters, a complementary data storage solution is needed. The storage industry is developing an object-based clustering architecture to radically boost storage performance and enhance manageability for Linux clusters. Panasas has delivered this system.

The Panasas ActiveScale Storage Cluster differs architecturally from other networked storage systems in two important ways:

1. Normal files are turned into "data objects" inside the Panasas

system and contain application data, metadata and extensible

attributes. An object-based storage design injects

intelligence and parallelism into the storage system, thereby

increasing performance while making the system more dynamic

and self-managing.

2. Hundreds of smart Panasas storage devices can be clustered

together just like a Linux compute cluster. As more Panasas

storage devices are clustered, data flow to the compute

cluster grows in near linear fashion.

The ActiveScale Advantage

The Panasas ActiveScale Storage Cluster delivers the following key benefits:

Record-setting performance: The Panasas Storage Cluster is the first storage system to deliver record-breaking performance in both raw throughput and random I/O. It can scale to deliver more than thirty times the data throughput and seven times the random I/O performance than any other single storage system.

Appliance-like management of a virtually boundless system: The Panasas storage cluster can scale from Gigabytes to Petabytes in capacity and still be managed as a single system. Key attributes include: a single virtualized global namespace, dynamic load balancing and Quality of Service attributes. These combine to simplify ongoing operation of the system while maintaining peak effectiveness.

Lower product cost and total cost of ownership: The unique object-based storage architecture allows Panasas to design in low cost commodity hardware such as Serial ATA disk drives and a Gigabit Ethernet switch fabric while still delivering breakthrough storage performance. More importantly, the ability to manage the Panasas cluster as a single system lowers the total cost of ownership of storage systems by $70,000 per terabyte of capacity(2).

Interoperability: The Panasas storage cluster connects to any TCP/IP Ethernet network and delivers high performance clustering of both the UNIX NFS and Windows CIFS file sharing protocols. In addition, the Panasas DirectFLOW protocol is used for even higher performance out-of-band data access. Any server can use all protocols.

Largest Linux-Based Storage Sale in History

In September 2003, Panasas was awarded a competitive-bid contract by Los Alamos National Laboratory to provide storage for three Linux-based supercomputers. 120 Terabytes of Panasas storage is now installed at Los Alamos. As the Linux cluster-based storage standard for the next year, Los Alamos has the option to purchase up to 500 Terabytes of additional capacity.

"We set a lofty goal of using a next-generation Linux cluster for our capacity computing needs to achieve an unparalleled price-performance advantage for an important segment of Los Alamos' workload. When we evaluated more than a dozen proposals for storage as part of this effort, it became clear that Panasas offered the best value," said John Morrison, leader of Los Alamos' Computing, Communications and Networking Division. "Panasas is now a key storage partner helping Los Alamos build high performance, yet low cost Linux-based supercomputers."

Panasas Target Markets

The Panasas ActiveScale Storage Cluster is the first system optimized for Linux cluster computing applications. Key vertical markets include: life sciences, government sciences, oil and gas, media rendering and emerging commercial applications using Linux. Panasas systems are already installed or in evaluation by dozens of potential customers.

System overview

The Panasas ActiveScale Storage Cluster includes the following key elements:

-- ActiveScale File System: Operates within the Panasas cluster

to dynamically distribute file activity across multiple

Panasas StorageBlades. Inherent parallelism eliminates the

performance and capacity growth bottlenecks of today's file

systems.

-- StorageBlades: Store application and end user data and are

finely tuned to optimize data flow from the network to

physical drives. 160GB, 240GB and 500GB capacities are

available.

-- DirectorBlades: Orchestrate activity between clients and

StorageBlades. Panasas DirectorBlades can operate out-of-band

-- outside the core data path -- allowing for highly parallel

data flow between Panasas StorageBlades and the Linux cluster.

-- PanActive Manager: An intuitive management console that can

manage the entire Panasas cluster as a single system.

-- Multiprotocol Access: The Panasas system can be accessed via

UNIX NFS, Windows CIFS and Panasas DirectFLOW file sharing

protocols, all used at the same time.

PanActive Support Program. Central to the customer-centric Panasas support program is MyPanasas.com, a customer extranet site that allows customers to: search a knowledge base for support information, download software to upgrade the Panasas cluster, track service requests online, order additional products and track the delivery progress of new orders. Customers indicate that MyPanasas.com goes well beyond competitive offerings.

The Panasas ActiveScale Storage Cluster is available immediately. For more information, please visit http://www.panasas.com or phone 1-888-PANASAS.

About Panasas

Formed in 2000, Panasas, Inc. is the pioneering leader in object-based storage clustering for scalable Linux clusters. Panasas offers a networked storage solution that eliminates the inherent scalability bottlenecks in capacity and performance experienced by traditional networked storage systems. The system, based on industry standards, is designed to easily and cost-effectively integrate into existing IT environments. The company's headquarters are in Fremont, CA with development facilities in Pittsburgh, PA and Houston, TX. For more information, please visit www.panasas.com.

(1) Performance achieved in accordance with the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation System File Server (SPEC SFS_R1 V3.0) test for NAS server performance. See Performance Backgrounder at www.panasas.com/Performance_Backgrounder.pdf for detailed information.

(2) Source: Kotler Marketing. Based on 5TB system, the Panasas Storage Cluster saves $372,000 over a Direct Attach solution, $356,000 over a NAS system, and $354,000 over a SAN system. The analysis takes into account initial purchase price, IT labor costs, application availability and increased performance.