SCIENCE

FREMONT, CA -- Vicom Systems, Inc., the storage virtualization leader, announced today a milestone OEM agreement with International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE: IBM) that will enable new connectivity from IBM 7133(R) Serial Disk Systems to IBM SAN Fibre Channel switches with support for heterogeneous hosts including IBM eServer pSeries(TM) servers. The IBM product is called the IBM TotalStorage SAN Controller 160(TM). This scaleable solution also enables powerful disk storage configuration and monitoring capabilities, including high availability mirroring, non-disruptive tape backup, and automated spare-drive fail-over. According to Gartner, Inc., the IBM 7133 Serial Disk Storage has an installed base of over 120,000 units (12 petabytes). IBM is the leading supplier of disk storage systems that use Serial Storage Architecture which IDC valued at $2.7 billion in 2000. "Many of our customers find this new Fibre Channel connectivity to be very attractive because it protects their Serial Disk storage investment and enables them to participate in the IBM TotalStorage SAN environment," said Barry Rudolph, IBM Vice President, Disk Storage Systems and Software. This enhanced product will provide our customers with increased server and switched fabric support as well as worldwide IGS maintenance service." "We are thrilled to be working with IBM to enhance their existing storage solution and provide a new product that will enable IBM's customers to fully participate in the growing SAN storage environment," said David X. Lamont, Vice President of Marketing at Vicom Systems. "Customers who upgrade their pSeries platforms to Fibre Channel connectivity can protect their investment by continuing to utilize their existing disk storage solution in a Fibre Channel SAN environment. Moreover, it now becomes easy for users to independently add more capacity as their storage needs increase or to add pSeries or other servers as processing requirements grow." "As an IBM storage reseller, we believe this new IBM TotalStorage SAN Controller 160 solution will be a great asset for our customers," said Chris Pyle, President and CEO of Champion Solutions Group. "By providing a vehicle for our customers to migrate to the Fibre Channel storage network, we are automatically giving them a cost-effective solution along with simplified administration." For further information visit www.ibm.com/storage/7140 or www.vicom.com