STORAGE

BOSTON, MA -- IBM today unveiled new storage networking solutions making it easier for drug makers and clinical trial managers to better utilize research data in the search for new treatments for diseases such as AIDS, diabetes and cancer. Introduced at the Drug Discovery Technology 2002 conference, the storage networking solutions offer a pre-tested combination of IBM storage, servers, database and storage management software as well as services. The integrated solutions are designed to provide researchers with the technology tools for a high-performance computing infrastructure that links data into a common pool of information, facilitating collaboration throughout the drug discovery and development process. The solutions are targeted to research firms of all sizes, including the fastest growing segment of small and mid-sized research groups. "The volume of life sciences data is doubling every nine months," said Kathleen Smith, vice president of storage solutions for IBM. "Research organizations can't afford to underutilize storage systems in these data-intensive environments. IBM's new networking storage solutions will allow researchers to take full advantage of their storage capabilities as well as better manage and use the growing mass of data." Neurome, Inc. uses the IBM TotalStorage FAStT500(TM) storage server to support its neuroscience studies. Neurome's research helps pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers understand human neurological disorders, such as epilepsy, Parkinson's Disease, and schizophrenia. This research includes preparing 3-D atlas databases, which map out gene and protein data to determine how genes are expressed -- turned on or off -- in diseased or healthy states. "The key decision in going with the IBM technology was the scalability, performance, and reliability," said Dr. Waren Young, president and chief technology officer at Neurome. "Neurome runs a 24/7 business, using high-throughput data acquisition, analysis, and visualization methodologies. IBM's eServer and TotalStorage allows us to scale up rapidly as the need arises, run compute-intensive models more effectively, and reduce down-time associated with less costly and lower quality systems." The new IBM offerings are available in several configurations with two key solutions for the small- and mid-sized research organizations. These companies, often with limited IT staffs and budgets, require systems that are easy to install and manage. The solutions are designed to provide a high-performance infrastructure that can easily scale to meet the growing demand for storage, regardless of the size of the organization. - For small research groups: IBM TotalStorage® FAStT500 midrange disk for storage, IBM TotalStorage Linear Tape Open (LTO) midrange tape storage for archiving and backup, and an IBM eServer p630 for running UNIX applications; - For medium-sized pharmaceutical firms and research groups: IBM TotalStorage FAStT500 midrange disk for storage, IBM TotalStorage LTO storage for backup and archiving, IBM Network Attached Storage (NAS)® 300G for file-serving from the SAN, and IBM eServer pSeries for running applications; - For large pharmaceutical firms and research organizations: IBM TotalStorage Enterprise Storage Server for storage, IBM TotalStorage NAS 300 and NAS 300G for file-serving from a SAN or within a department, IBM TotalStorage LTO for archiving and backup, IBM eServer pSeries® and IBM eServer xSeries® for running applications. - These solutions may also come with IBM DB2® database software, and IBM Tivoli® management software, as well as other components included in essential storage area network (SAN) technologies, such as routers, switches and host bus adapters. The new solutions simplify and automate data protection, and provide backup and archival capabilities.