STORAGE

SOMERS, NY -- IBM announced today that it is cooperating with Hitachi Data Systems to further promote the development of interoperable storage networking solutions that can enable customers to bridge the gap between network attached storage (NAS) and storage area networks (SAN). Specifically, the companies are conducting interoperability testing of IBM's TotalStorage NAS 300G with Hitachi Freedom Storage(TM) Lightning 9900(TM) series with plans to extend to the Thunder 9200(TM). IBM's NAS 300G is designed to act as an Internet Protocol (IP) gateway to a SAN by allowing clients and servers on an IP network to access files directly from their SAN. This capability is becoming more critical as network technologies converge and customers seek ways to leverage their SAN investments. "NAS and SAN technologies are converging and customers are asking us to help them connect products from a broad array of vendors," said Adalio Sanchez, IBM's general manager of storage networking, IBM Storage Systems Group. "Today, IBM is executing on its commitment to deliver open storage network products by promoting interoperability with other leading storage vendors such as Hitachi Data Systems. We are also hoping to extend our interoperability testing to include other storage vendors." IBM's NAS 300G is a leading product in the emerging Ethernet/IP network and SAN convergence. The IBM NAS 300G is designed to appear to users as a NAS device, serving multi-protocol files and allowing users to access storage resident on the SAN. This capability can help enable customers to leverage their investments in SAN infrastructure, skills and tools, and to reap the benefits of NAS, including simplicity, quick deployment cycles, reduced cost of access, and heterogeneous data sharing. "Promoting interoperability between storage products is important for faster customer adoption of storage networking technologies," said Marlene Woodworth, general manager, Global Marketing, Hitachi Data Systems. "Working with IBM's NAS 300G and our Hitachi Freedom Storage systems for interoperability should allow customers to more easily deploy new open storage networking solutions and drive SAN investments further." Other vendors have built proprietary NAS gateway products that only connect to their own SAN technology, however, this can limit customer's choice and lock them into a single vendor. The target for the completion of the tests is in the second quarter. Upon successful completion of the testing, these products will be good candidates for the IBM TotalStorage Proven program, also announced today. IBM continues to conduct interoperability testing of the NAS 300G with other vendors' storage. For more information visit www.ibm.com/totalstorage