MOVIES

Minneapolis, Minn. -- Sistina Software, the premier storage infrastructure software company delivering data-sharing solutions for enterprise and technical computing customers, today announced that it secured a round of financing from top venture capitalist firms for $10 million. Led by Crescendo Ventures, the series B round includes Validus Partners and series A lead St. Paul Venture Capital, bringing the Company’s total funding to more than $20 million. This round of funding enables Sistina to progressively expand the company in order to meet increasing customer demand and fully capitalize on its leadership position. In addition, the funding will allow Sistina to enhance its business operations, plus market new enterprise products, such as the first cluster file system solution for IBM Linux mainframes, delivered with its partner Mainline Information Systems. Sistina’s data-sharing software is the central nervous system behind multiple powerful, Linux-based clusters and storage area networks (SANs), including Deutsche Telekom and NASA. The Sistina Global File System™ (GFS) enables organizations to consolidate existing server and storage resources into a single management domain, linking thousands of diverse data storage repositories into a massively scalable, secure and robust SAN. With over 50 paying customers in 2002, Sistina GFS sales continue to accelerate, especially in the financial services and manufacturing sectors. “Sistina’s enterprise-class storage software is truly the cornerstone of the data center, evidenced by dozens of customers that have implemented this solution,” said Jeff Hinck, general partner, Crescendo Ventures. “By embracing low-cost, yet extremely powerful Linux-based clustered servers utilizing Sistina's data-sharing solutions, enterprises are saving thousands of dollars on their implementations. As the adoption of blade-based computing solutions continues to accelerate, Sistina's entire product suite of storage infrastructure software will be the critical enablers that tie together hundreds of blades into powerful server clusters for simplified management and reduced TCO.” “With recent, real customer wins and a significant influx of cash, Sistina should be positioned to accelerate its push into the mainstream,” said Steve Duplessie, founder of Enterprise Storage Group. “Market forces are moving toward them, and they now have enough cash to take full advantage.” According to IDC’s “Worldwide Serverware Software Forecast and Analysis Report,” which was published in June 2002, Sistina’s target markets are exploding. The distributed file system market is expected to triple by 2005, reaching $225 million. In addition, IDC’s “Worldwide Linux Operating Environments Forecast and Analysis, 2002-2006: A Market in Transition,” which was published in July 2002, states that, “Linux continues to carve out a place for itself in the IT industry beside market standards like Windows and Unix.” Sistina continues to receive widespread praise for its momentum and enterprise solutions. In September 2002, the Company was one of ten start-ups awarded “Investor’s Choice” and voted “most likely to succeed” at the Technologic Partners Datacenter Ventures private equity conference. Linux Journal also delivered Sistina’s Logical Volume Manager (LVM) its “Editor’s Choice” award for the “Best Backup” software. Included in the Linux kernel and every major Linux distribution, LVM provides tens of thousands of end-users worldwide with high performance, ease of management and key features enabling crucial backup applications. Jeff Hinck of Crescendo Ventures has also joined Sistina’s Board of Directors, which includes: Bruce Bergman, former president and chief executive officer of Brocade (Nasdaq: BRCD); Zenas Hutcheson, managing general partner, St. Paul Venture Capital; and Sistina President and CEO, Frank Crusing.