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AppIQ, OptiFacio, and Silverback Systems Demonstrate High Performance Data Storage at Breakthrough Price Points at Storage Networking World, Fall 2004

Posted on: Monday, 25 October 2004, 13:00 CDT

Companies Demonstrate How Standards-Based iSCSI Storage Networks Based on Intel XScale Technology Make Advanced Storage Capabilities Available to More Customers

Offering a glimpse into the future of data storage, AppIQ(TM), OptiFacio, and Silverback Systems today announced they will be demonstrating advanced data storage capabilities at breakthrough price points at the Storage Networking World, Fall 2004 trade show. IT managers for both large enterprises and small and medium sized businesses will see how high-performance, cost-effective storage networks can be implemented using the ubiquitous Internet Protocol (IP), Common Information Model (CIM) standard, and Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S). The demonstration platform, which showcases an iSCSI storage area network (SAN), integrates OptiFacio's SAN OS and embedded run-time middleware, Silverback Systems' iSNAP(TM) (storage network access processor) and AppIQ StorageAuthority(TM) Suite SAN management software, and is based on Intel XScale(R) Technology. The demonstration will be available in Intel's booth (P4) throughout the event, which takes place October 25-28 at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes Resort in Orlando.

"Bringing the next wave of users to networked storage will require industry standard infrastructure, high availability, low price points, and operational simplicity through solid solutions," said Robert Gray, Research VP, Worldwide Storage Systems, IDC. "iSCSI, using existing Ethernet and IP technologies for reducing storage total cost of ownership, overcoming distance limitations, and improving interoperability is well positioned technology. The collaboration among AppIQ, Intel, OptiFacio, and Silverback Systems shows that iSCSI-based SAN solutions with standards-compliant devices and powerful management solutions are not far away."

The demonstration will show how the business applications of SAN technology such as SAN/NAS gateways, Information Lifecycle Management (ILM), serverless backup, disk-to-disk backup, database replication, and shared storage can be made more affordable and delivered to entirely new market segments. It will also provide another proof point that CIM and SMI-S are the right standards for ensuring storage interoperability and simplifying management, and that Fibre Channel SANs and iSCSI SANs can co-exist within the same customer environments to offer unprecedented flexibility in aligning storage costs with business requirements.

The iSCSI SAN consists of Microsoft Windows and Linux host servers, each configured with Silverback Systems storage accelerators designed using Intel XScale technology. Two iSCSI storage systems, each designed using the Intel reference platform and featuring an embedded CIM Object Manager (CIMOM) from OptiFacio, will be connected to the Silverback Systems host adapters via an IP network. AppIQ StorageAuthority Suite SAN management software will leverage CIM and SMI-S to discover and display the iSCSI SAN topology, and monitor and report on the configuration, connectivity, capacity, and performance of the iSCSI SAN components. The result is a SAN solution made up of higher volume, lower cost hardware components, and commercially available management software that delivers many of the same end user benefits of today's higher-priced SANs, including:

-- faster data transfer

-- higher data availability

-- flexibility to share storage across multiple applications

-- ability to quickly scale storage capacity

-- easier manageability

-- faster backup and recovery

AppIQ: Simplifying SAN Management

AppIQ provides comprehensive, multi-vendor SAN management and storage resource management software that enables enterprise IT organizations to efficiently manage data storage as a business-focused IT utility. AppIQ StorageAuthority Suite seamlessly integrates storage resource visualization, provisioning, monitoring, reporting, and policy-based automation, and correlates business-critical applications with SAN configuration, capacity, and performance. AppIQ and Intel previously announced a collaboration to develop management solutions for iSCSI-based storage networks . AppIQ is leveraging these efforts to offer an integrated, standards-based family of storage area management solutions that supports all storage technologies - DAS, NAS, and SAN - on all physical protocols - ATA, SCSI, Fibre Channel, and iSCSI - giving IT managers the power to manage heterogeneous storage infrastructures through a "single pane of glass."

"Today's economic realities are forcing businesses to closely match storage costs with application and end user service level requirements," said Ash Ashutosh, CTO, AppIQ. "To do this, IT organizations need management software that embraces emerging storage technologies and protects existing investments. This demonstration proves that AppIQ is the best choice for managing multi-vendor, multi-protocol storage networks and should ease concerns about how iSCSI-based SANs will be managed, helping pave the way for mass market adoption of iSCSI technology."

For more information on AppIQ, visit http://www.appiq.com.

OptiFacio SAN OS Software:

OptiFacio provides a full set of storage software building blocks that scale from Intel XScale Technology up to enterprise-class multiprocessor servers. ApplianceWare(TM) is OptiFacio's Linux based OS with integrated Java management for creating and managing SAN and NAS servers. Fully integrated is the OS, file system, volume management, server management, device control and monitoring. Included in the system is a fully customizable GUI interface that can manage multiple servers from a single console. OptiFacio has integrated both a high performance hardware accelerated iSCSI solution and an optional value priced software based iSCSI stack for the XScale platform.

"Many of the roadblocks in implementing iSCSI SANs in the small and medium sized business marketplace are eliminated with the introduction of this joint solution," said Mr. Stacy Kenworthy, CEO, OptiFacio. "The disruptive price point of the Intel XScale Entry SAN platform with the power and ease of use brought by the partners makes entry level SAN possible in a new market segment. This alone will open up opportunities and worldwide market acceptance of iSCSI SANs."

For more information on Optifacio, visit http://www.optifacio.com.

Silverback Systems: Accelerating Storage Performance

Silverback Systems, Inc., offers the iSNAP, storage network access processor product family, accelerating the adoption of IP storage. iSNAP delivers verifiable, industry-leading, performance for iSCSI and TCP/IP off-load engines for both data throughput and transaction processing. The solution is focused on providing enterprise class services for reliability, scalability, and cost objective of SMBs. For more information, visit www.silverbacksystems.com.

(C) 2004 AppIQ, Inc. AppIQ and StorageAuthority are trademarks of AppIQ, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such.

Source: Business Wire

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