Terascape Offers Free Performance `Dipstick' Software to Detect Storage Hotspots.

NEEDHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 29, 1999--

Firm Responds To Recent Survey of 800 Oracle Users Which Found That

94% Believe I/O Bottlenecks Cripple Service Levels

Terascape Software announced today that it is making available a free software program that performs a quick and accurate assessment of the I/O performance of storage systems. The program can be downloaded from the Terascape website at: http://www.terascape.com/products/dipstick.cfm.

The company, which develops software to manage and tune storage performance for large database environments, said it created the dipstick after conducting a survey in April in which 94% of Oracle database users said that I/O bottlenecks in their disk arrays can cripple storage performance. Fewer than half knew what caused such "hot spots," the survey indicated, and two-thirds are not currently collecting data about storage performance.

Users can download the program to a temporary directory, log onto a production server and execute the program, which runs in the background for up to 24 hours to accumulate statistics on physical workload and data distribution on each disk drive on a system. A collection agent uses common, low-impact Unix commands to collect performance data. When sufficient data is collected, the program sends a screen alert to the user to open an HTML report that displays summarized results ranking I/O performance from "1" (very poor) to "10" (excellent).

For a comprehensive analysis report, the user can upload the I/O statistics to the Terascape portal. The interactive portal will analyze the I/O statistics and send a detailed graphical report to the end-user via e-mail free of charge.

"We developed the dipstick offering in direct response to the survey we conducted in April. The bottom line is that most DBAs are not doing anything at all about the I/O performance problem, yet they know it has a serious impact on the performance of their applications. The dipstick is a free and easy way to instantly assess the I/O health of production systems. Every application has its own I/O signature, and most, if managed better, can generate major improvements in system productivity. Our objective is to show the huge potential gains possible from modest storage performance management efforts," Gary E. Sharpe, president and CEO of Terascape Software, said.

The free dipstick report provides detailed charts of physical I/O signatures for web-based, on-line transaction processing, decision support and data warehousing applications. The charts include statistics on disk utilization, disk service time, and rankings of disks based on I/O activity. The results enable database administrators and system administrators to determine the overall I/O health of their environment with virtually no effort or time expenditure.

Terascape's software products (Insight, Trend, and StorageVision) improve application performance by automating performance data capture, analysis and display. Terascape Insight enables users to pinpoint storage bottlenecks, determine their causes, and improve performance through physical data placement. With Terascape Trend administrators can identify adverse trends before they affect application performance, in order to manage and tune systems proactively. StorageVision extends Insight to gather detailed performance data on the inner workings of EMC Symmetrix(R) arrays, providing the industry's first fully correlated logical to physical view of I/O activity.

The dipstick software is available for leading Unix servers, including systems from HP, IBM, Sequent, and Sun Microsystems.

Survey Responses Demonstrate Industry-Wide Need for I/O Management

When asked if slow performance during peak production periods may be attributable to storage systems, 75% of the survey respondents said "yes." And while 95% consider storage performance a critical part of application management, only 42% acknowledged knowing what causes "hot spots." When asked about the duration of the problem, 87% of the survey respondents stated that I/O bottlenecks are either a medium- or long-term problem, not a short-term problem that is easily solved.

The survey was conducted by Terascape Software during the annual International Oracle User Group (IOUG) and Oracle Application User Group (OAUG) meetings in April in Denver and San Diego, respectively. The 800 respondents included production- and development-related database administrators, applications developers, systems administrators and IT managers.

About Terascape

Terascape's software improves the return-on-investment in enterprise storage systems through increased storage performance, improved system efficiency and reduced labor and skill requirements. The company's "intelligent I/O management" solutions use automation processes to optimize the physical placement of data on disk drives. Such optimization helps eliminate I/O bottlenecks that degrade service levels, response times and overall performance in enterprise information systems. Terascape Software, a private company, is located at 119 Fourth Avenue, Needham, MA. It can be reached by telephone at 781-433-0092 or on the Internet at www.terascape.com.

EMC and Symmetrix are registered trademarks of EMC Corporation.