STORServer Ships Largest Capacity Enterprise Backup Appliance on the Market; S40000 is STORServer's First Petabyte Appliance.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2004

STORServer(R), Inc. -- manufacturer of the all-in-one enterprise Backup Appliance -- announced today that it is shipping the largest capacity backup appliance on the market, with an online storage pool capable of handling nearly 1.5 Petabytes of customer data.

The S40000 Backup Appliance, handling 4 to 90 Terabytes of customer data in the first frame, supports either LTO-2 (Linear-Tape Open) or SAIT-1 (Sony AIT). By adding library frames, each of which add 1300 additional tape cartridge slots with Spectra Logic's TeraPack(R) technology -- a dense packing system -- the S40000 becomes the industry's highest density backup solution and STORServer's first Backup Appliance capable of storing over a Petabyte of customer data, always online, available for immediate restore and recovery.

"The S40000 can increase capacity in one footprint to a total of 6,150 slots -- which translates to nearly 600 Terabytes of customer data using STORServer's default storage management policies," according to John Sorensen, vice president of manufacturing for STORServer. "The capacity can reach nearly 1.5 Petabytes of customer data if more stringent policies are used. Every single file in this massive storage pool is available for recovery at a moment's notice."

"With the S40000, STORServer Backup Appliances now hold the largest amount of online data available for immediate recovery in the smallest cabinet space," says STORServer President John Pearring. Unlike octagonal or L-shaped libraries, the S40000 fits in a data center row. The first library frame, offering up to 950 LTO cartridge slots and 12 tape drives, or 830 tape cartridge slots and 24 tape drives, is only 31 inches wide. Additional frames add up to 1300 cartridge slots in the same form factor as the first.

If necessary, service can be accomplished through the front and back of the frame. "The TeraPack design allows very rapid media entry and removal, eliminating the need for a large access door and the need for clear space around it," Pearring continues. Tape drive technology inside the S40000 includes a customer choice of SAIT-1 or LTO-2. SAIT uses proven helical scan recording technology coupled with a half-inch single-reel cartridge to provide 500 Gbytes of uncompressed data storage capacity per tape. LTO technology provides 200 Gbytes of uncompressed data storage capacity per tape. Moreover, STORServer expects to add support for AIT-4 and SDLT to the S40000 later this year.

The S40000 is expandable in the first frame from 100 to 950 slots of on-line storage pool, translating to up to 425 Tbytes at uncompressed capacity using SAIT. With compression, the SAIT pool can reach 950 Tbytes of storage space in one 31-inch by 79-inch cabinet.

As data continues to grow, storage capacity can be increased within a single frame in increments of 100 cartridge slots "on the fly" through CoD, a capacity-on-demand feature that activates additional storage slots by storage license keys, ten cartridges (that is, one TeraPack case) at a time.

"Spectra Logic developed TeraPack technology to simplify media management," said Nathan Thompson, CEO for Spectra Logic Corporation. "The S40000 robotics load and unload media in TeraPack cases, handling multiple tapes in a single move. For example, ten LTO-2 cartridges fit into a single TeraPack case. This means that data center operators automatically reduce the effort involved in loading and unloading media by 90 percent, while gaining incredible storage density both inside and outside the library."

STORServer products are distributed solely through a network of authorized resellers nationwide. For more information, visit www.storserver.com.

About STORServer(R)

A privately held corporation located in Colorado Springs, Colo., STORServer(R), Inc. is an employee-owned manufacturer of the award-winning STORServer(R) Backup Appliance. The backup appliance is a LAN friendly, enterprise-wide product, which reduces install time to minutes and management to just minutes a day. Formed in 1995 from SSSI, STORServer is recognized as having the leading TSM consultants in the industry. STORServer(R) sells through a nationwide distribution of partners, who have established themselves as the leaders in product and solution delivery. For more information on STORServer and its products, visit www.storserver.com.