StorageTek Signs Worldwide Reseller Agreement With Silicon Graphics; Data-Intensive, Multimedia Customers To Benefit From Tightly Integrated, Scalable Storage Solution.

LOUISVILLE, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 1998--Furthering its leadership in the open systems market, StorageTek(R) (Storage Technology Corp.)(NYSE:STK), the preeminent provider of network storage, today announced a worldwide strategic relationship with Silicon Graphics, Inc. whereby Silicon Graphics will resell StorageTek's family of automated DLT tape libraries. This new relationship allows StorageTek to better serve high- end, data-intensive customers through Silicon Graphics global channels in manufacturing, communications, education, sciences and digital media industries. Through this mutually beneficial agreement, Silicon Graphics can now offer its high-end users a seamless server-storage solution to effectively access and store data-intensive applications. Silicon Graphics is yet another prominent server vendor to reinforce StorageTek's leadership in tape automation.

Under the terms of the agreement, Silicon Graphics will resell StorageTek's 9710, 9714 and 9730 tape libraries, making StorageTek the company's premier supplier of tape automation. Currently, there are few reliable and cost-effective storage options for high-end users of data- intensive information -- making it difficult for companies specializing in motion picture, seismic or crash simulation graphics to find optimal storage solutions.

Tape storage offers the best in performance, scalability, capacity and value, and is regarded as an ideal storage medium for the high-performance users of Silicon Graphics systems. Silicon Graphics customers can now choose a tightly integrated server-storage solution, with its Origin(TM) and Onyx 2(TM) systems and a StorageTek automated DLT tape library, to keep mission-critical data secure and highly accessible.

"StorageTek is well known for its leadership in storage automation and brings a strong complement to our server solutions," said John R. "Beau" Vrolyk, senior vice president of Server and Supercomputing Business Unit, Silicon Graphics. "We are very proud to add StorageTek to our Bandwidth Solutions program, which is designed to bring best-in-class storage products to our customers."

StorageTek's strategic partnership with Silicon Graphics follows a series of server vendors recognizing the benefits automated tape products bring to high-end, data intensive applications. Recent server vendors linking with StorageTek include, Bull, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, NCR, Sequent and also announced today Dell Computer Corp. The adoption of StorageTek's automation products by leading server vendors brands StorageTek as the leading provider of open-systems tape automation products.

"Being chosen by Silicon Graphics, a leader in high-performance servers, validates StorageTek's strength and commitment to our partners, "said Jeff Hodgins, vice president of global distribution for StorageTek's Multiplatform Business Group.

"We are expanding our global reach by linking with key new partners such as Silicon Graphics. Through this alliance, our customers will especially benefit from the scalability inherent to both StorageTek storage solutions and Silicon Graphics servers. "

Silicon Graphics Bandwidth Solutions program is an alliance designed to allow Silicon Graphics to deliver targeted I/O solutions for its key markets. Silicon Graphics and the alliance members provide best-of-breed solutions and services to meet the specific needs of the world's most demanding server applications. Working with StorageTek, Silicon Graphics plans to further enhance its digital media and enterprise Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions.

StorageTek's Family of 97XX Tape Libraries for Silicon Graphics

9714: StorageTek's 9714 holds up to six DLT 7000 tape drives and offers incremental capacities from 40 to 100 cartridges, allowing substantial room for growth. The 9714 provides up to 3.5 TB of uncompressed automated storage and can easily adapt to corporate server environments.

9710: In less than 16 square feet of floor space, StorageTek's 9710 offers capabilities from 600 GB to 20.58 TB of data storage-depending on the drive configuration. The flexible capacity and performance of the 9710 also extend to a 14-cartridge access port that handles the administrative tasks normally associated with loading and unloading cartridges.

9730: StorageTek's 9730 library supports up to four DLT 7000 tape drives and is designed to adapt to future tape drive technologies. It is rack-mountable and only 17.5 inches high with a capacity of up to two TB of compressed automated storage. Customers have the option to start with an entry-level, 18-slot tape library and as their storage needs grow, migrate to the 30-slot version with minimal disruption and low upgrade costs.

About StorageTek

StorageTek is the preeminent provider of network storage. The company's products and services are used to store, transport and secure more than 100 petabytes of the world's information, ranging from mainframe data to client/server applications to video, audio and still images. The company (Storage Technology Corp., NYSE:STK), based in Louisville, Colo., reported earnings of $232 million on revenue of $2.1 billion in 1997. Information on StorageTek is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.storagetek.com or phone at 1-800-STORTEK.

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TRADEMARKS: StorageTek is a registered trademark of Storage Technology Corporation. All other products or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners.