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Short Takes - Financial Watch:

Stonefly & Nexsan Announce OEM Partnership

StoneFly Networks, an innovator of the first simple, affordable, end-to-end IP SAN appliances and Nexsan Technologies, a leader in innovative storage solutions, announced an agreement that will enable Nexsan to extend its Veriture storage volume management product line to address the need for simple, cost effective IP-based storage networks in small to medium-sized enterprises. StoneFly's new class of Storage Concentrators which combine the functionality of an iSCSI (Internet small computer system interface)-based storage router, bridge and an extensible logical volume manager, will be renamed under Nexsan's Veriture IP brand, and will provide Nexsan's customers with an end-to-end storage provisioning solution that installs in minutes to enable easy-to-manage, centralized pools of storage.

"Nexsan's Veriture management system targets larger enterprises and provides easy, centrally managed storage pooling and virtual volume allocation across the entire SAN," said Rik Mussman, vice president of technical services, Nexsan Technologies. "Our OEM relationship with StoneFly Networks will enable Nexsan to immediately employ our Veriture line to address the rapidly growing need for cost-effective, feature rich storage management solutions in mid-tier and departmental workgroups. StoneFly's easy-to-install, easy-to-manage IP SAN appliance is an ideal addition to our Veriture line, and will enable our IPbased customers with a simple way to centrally manage their storage networks, reduce administration costs and significantly improve utilization of their storage resources."

StoneFly's newly announced Storage Concentrators consolidate storage area network (SAN) block data to move intelligence to the network core to allow easy management of storage assets, as well as interoperability and scalability, to substantially reduce the complexity and total cost of ownership of storage area networks. In the 15 minutes required to install Nexsan's new IP SAN appliance, customers will now have the ability to implement powerful, simple-to-use IP-based storage area networks that support existing applications and traffic, optimize storage resources and scale to handle growing storage requirements.

"Our OEM agreement with Nexsan is in line with our business strategy and our vision to deliver simple, affordable storage provisioning appliances to the broad market," said Allen F. Yuhas, president and CEO, StoneFly Networks, Inc. "Our new IP SAN appliances can be deployed with Nexsan's ATAboy2 storage arrays to offer functionality normally associated with midrange storage systems costing far more. Through more efficient storage usage, improved administrative productivity and reduced network complexity, Nexsan will help its customers to achieve a rapid return on investment and will supply users with the simple storage management they need with a lower total cost of ownership."

About Storage Concentrators

Storage Concentrators are ideally suited for small and mid-tier enterprises, and workgroups and departments within larger businesses. By using the emerging iSCSI standard, TCP/IP and Gigabit Ethernet, StoneFly's new Storage Concentrators add intelligent block-level logical volume management to existing IP networks to pool existing and new storage assets, thus providing more efficient utilization, streamlined management, rapid deployment and reconfiguration of storage, and reduced SAN-based backup and restore times. Storage Concentrators feature an easy-to-use HTML-based GUI to allow administrators to easily manage storage operations, including controlling distributed Storage Concentrators, centrally and securely from anywhere on the Internet.

Availability

Nexsan's Veriture product family includes Veriture Volume Manager Server (VMS), a high performance storage virtualization manager that enables independent scalability and the high availability of all SAN resources, and Veriture MultiView (MV), an innovative snapshot copy facility that is implemented as part of Veriture VMS. Both Veriture products are targeted for mid-sized to large enterprises. The Veriture line including the new IP SAN appliance targeted for smaller enterprises is available by contacting Nexsan or its resellers.

About Nexsan Technologies

Nexsan Technologies is an engineering design and manufacturing technologies company based in Woodland Hills, California. The company creates and delivers correct cost storage-centric hardware and application-based solutions worldwide through one of the most diverse and established networks of professionals in the storage industry. Next-generation Nexsan storage products are designed for corporate, graphics, medical imaging, animation and special effects, real time/event monitored/ online/off site storage, internet delivered content, digital film and video, financial on-line transaction data, music and voice, video security, and document imaging. For more information, please see the company's Web site at www.nexsan.com.

About StoneFly Networks

StoneFly Networks. Inc., is based in San Diego, California and was founded in April 2000 to develop simple, affordable IP SAN appliances that add intelligent storage management to IP networks transforming them into IP storage area networks (SANs). The company's complete line of Storage Concentrators combine the functionality of an iSCSI-based storage router, bridge and provisioning manager to provide an end-to-end storage provisioning solution that reduces the cost and complexity of managing storage assets. Storage Concentrators are based on StoneFly's patent-pending StoneFusion storage networking architecture to consolidate and optimize data storage to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) and increase return on investment (ROI). StoneFly Networks is a member of the Storage Networking Association (SNIA) and the founding member of the IP Storage Institute (IPSI). For more information, please visit the company's Web site at www.stonefly.com.


Shares Of Iomega Corp Up 54 % In The Past Six Months

As reported by John Abbott: don't you hate it when reality gets in the way of a good story? As our investment challenge for the first half of 2002 entered its final days, it looked all but certain that a defense stock would be the winner.

Engineered Support Systems Inc. and Lockheed Martin Corp. were neck-and-neck. I was getting ready to write about how government contracts provided certainty and stability in these troubled times, and how national security has become a growth industry. Then, along comes a surging tech stock to spoil that tale.

A tech stock? After a half-year when the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index lost 33% of its value, I'm going to have to write about a winning tech stock? Yep. Shares of Iomega Corp., maker of the Zip drive and other data-storage devices, are up 54% in the past six months, making Kelly Schaper a winner. There's been no news to explain the stock's surge this week, but Schaper observes that Iomega's stock chart has always looked like a roller coaster.

She and her husband Kevin, who live in south St. Louis County, have owned the stock for about three years. In December, with Iomega at about $8 a share, she felt it was due for a rebound. It closed Friday at $12.85, enough to win Schaper a Post-Dispatch T-shirt and coffee mug.

This was our closest contest yet. Susan Miklovic picked Engineered Support, which gained 53%, and Patrick Stuchlik chose Lockheed Martin, which rose 49%.

It also was a tough time to find a winning stock. About two-thirds of the entries lost money, and the worst performer, Magellan Health Services, plummeted 84%.

If you have a stock that you think will soar in the second half of this year, you can still enter our new Investment Challenge. To qualify, the stock must trade on a major exchange for at least $5 a share. Please include your name and phone number so we can contact you if you're a winner.


GTDATA Awarded An Additional Contract From NCR Corporation

GTDATA Corporation, a leader in high-end data storage solutions, announced today that TSLi, a wholly owned subsidiary of GTDATA, has been awarded an additional contract from NCR Corporation.

The new agreement calls for TSLi to provide NCR with service logistics for high-volume disk storage peripherals. TSLi has provided NCR with service logistics for tape products over the last three years.

Mr. Robert Mullaney, president of TSLi, stated: "We have been very pleased with our long-term relationship with NCR and their dedicated team of professionals. The entire TSLi staff is encouraged by the vote of confidence afforded us by NCR with the increased work load and continued integration of our advanced peripheral solutions."

"Our internal growth strategy of capitalizing on expansion opportunities with several of our major Fortune 500 clients is progressing nicely. We are seeing an increasing demand for our unique and service-driven expertise," stated Mullaney.

About GTDATA Corporation

GTDATA is a high-end data storage solutions company that provides a wide variety of service options to key manufacturers and integrators. They offer repair, remarketing and logistics solutions to the data storage market, including mass storage for original equipment manufacturers and integrators. Our core competencies include in-depth technical expertise and an extensive marketing database.

They have also established strategic alliances with mass storage OEMs and other key integrators.

Additional information can be found at: www.gtdatacorp.com.


Datalink Corporation Revises Second Quarter Outlook.

Datalink Corporation, a premier independent information storage architect, presented a revised outlook for the period ending June 30, 2002. Datalink expects revenue for the June 2002 quarter to be between $19 and $20 million, with a loss of $0.16 to $0.18 per diluted share. In the same period a year ago, Datalink posted revenues of $27 million and a loss of $0.07 per diluted share.

Greg Meland, Datalink's president and CEO, commented, "Our lower second quarter expectations are a result of the continued lack of capital spending by our customers.

With persistent economic uncertainty, many companies are freezing their information technology budgets, pending their businesses strengthening. Because many customers are opting to buy only what they require to meet current needs, both our sales and gross margins were lowered, leading to an operating loss." Meland remains confident about the long-term market opportunity.

He noted, "Advanced information strategies and technologies, such as networked storage, replication and information protection are vital to an organization's information fabric. Our opportunity is the widespread acceptance of networked storage technologies coupled with relatively low market penetration. Datalink has the capabilities to seize this opportunity.

The same difficult conditions that are unfavorably impacting our operating results are also impacting the manufacturers of networked storage products. Several have stated their intention to stay away from big direct sales forces and more fully utilize companies like Datalink. We see this as a growing trend, one that creates greater sales opportunities for us."

Meland said that Datalink's pipeline of expected business is higher today than in the previous quarter and that there is more business activity related to larger infrastructure designs than at any time in the last three quarters.

Meland continued, "Given the second quarter results, we have continued to reduce operating costs. Our fixed costs for the current quarter will total almost $1 million less than in the prior year's quarter. Our balance sheet remains very strong. Datalink has no funded debt, approximately $10 million in cash and the capital strength and flexibility to fund the company's anticipated growth.

When technology investment rebounds, we are prepared with the trained sales, engineering and support personnel on board to create networked storage solutions for the marketplace."

Due to uncertain economic conditions, Datalink declined at this time to issue new operating results guidance for the balance of 2002. The Company plans to issue guidance in its second quarter press release, scheduled for July 17, 2002.

Datalink Corporation is an information storage architect. The company analyzes, designs, implements, and supports information storage infrastructures that store, protect, and provide continuous access to information. Datalink's specialized capabilities and solutions span storage area networks, network-attached storage, direct-attached storage, and IP-based storage, using industry-leading hardware, software, and technical services.


MTI Tech Corp Reports Fiscal 02 Q4 & Year End Results

MTI Technology Corp., a provider of enterprise storage solutions,announced financial results for its fiscal 2002 fourth quarter and year ended April 6, 2002.

For the fourth quarter ended April 6, 2002, MTI reported total revenue of $25.7 million, compared to $34.2 million for the comparable quarter last year and $29.8 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2002. Net product revenue for the fourth quarter 2002 was $14.7 million, compared to $22.1 million in the comparable period last year and $17.7 million in the immediately preceding quarter.

Service revenue for the fourth quarter 2002 was $11.0 million, compared to $12.0 million in the comparable period last year and $12.1 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2002. Gross profit margin for the fourth quarter 2002 was 27.6% compared to 33.6% in the same period last year and 29.8% for the third quarter of fiscal 2002.

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002 the Company recorded $2.1 million of excess and obsolete inventory charges. During the fourth quarter ended April 6, 2002, MTI recorded a restructuring charge of $4.9 million related to the abandonment of either underutilized or historically unprofitable facilities, headcount reduction and disposal of fixed assets. MTI continues to attempt to complete the transition of its manufacturing facility to Dublin, Ireland by the end of the second quarter of fiscal year 2003. In order to leverage the declining general economic condition, the Company intends to undergo additional facility and headcount reductions in the first half of fiscal year 2003.

The pretax loss for the quarter was $10.5 million including the $4.9 million restructuring charge. The Company reported a net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2002 of $10.8 million, or $0.33 per share, compared to a net loss of $20.6 million, or $0.64 per share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001.

For the fiscal 2002 year ended April 6, 2002, MTI reported total revenue of $117.9 million, compared to $161.7 million for fiscal 2001. Net product revenue was $69.5 million, compared to $111.8 million for fiscal 2001. Service revenue for the fiscal year 2002 was $48.4 million, compared to $49.9 million in the previous year. Gross profit margin for fiscal 2002 year was 26.9% compared to 33.3% in the same period last year. Gross margin was lower primarily due to product mix and lower efficiencies in manufacturing due to lower sales levels as well as excess and obsolete inventory charges of approximately $6.3 million. Opportunities to improve revenue performance were negligible throughout the 2002 fiscal year. The Company began shipping the Vivant 400 product line and exploratory steps were taken to develop business opportunities in China and Korea.

The Company reported a net loss for the fiscal year 2002 of $59.6 million, or $1.83 per share, compared to net loss of $36.4 million, or $1.13 per share in fiscal 2001.

As of fiscal year end the Company had no bank borrowings or long-term debt. During the year the Company borrowed $1.9 million from an affiliated company which remains payable as of fiscal year end. Additionally, the Company recently entered into a $7 million revolving line of credit with an affiliated company that matures on June 30, 2003 allowing for greater borrowing flexibility. This new line of credit is intended to assure our customers that we have the financial resources to continue to deliver products and support services.

"As of this date, we see no real change in the economy that would cause us to expect any improvement in the first quarter of 2003," said Tom Raimondi, president and Chief Executive Officer. "However, unforeseen events have caused us all to understand that the unexpected can always occur. Fiscal 2002 reflected the economic decline in demand for data storage products. Fortunately, our service and support relationships are an area on which we intend to focus going forward."

About MTI Technology Corporation

MTI's mission is to provide Continuous Access to Online Information through fault-tolerant, cross-platform data storage servers for the enterprise. MTI develops, manufactures, sells and services data server solutions for Global 2000 companies on a worldwide basis. Headquartered in Anaheim, California, the company offers services and support from offices in the U.S. and Europe and complies with ISO 9001 quality system standards.

For more information, please visit www.mti.com.


Seagate To Announce Q4 FY02 Results July 17, 2002

Seagate Technology Holdings will report fourth quarter fiscal 2002 financial results on Wednesday, July 17, 2002, after the close of the market. A subsequent webcast bondholder conference call will take place that day at 2:00 PM Pacific Time, which can be accessed from www.seagate.com. A replay will be available beginning July 17 at 5:30 PM Pacific Time through July 24 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. The replay can be accessed by telephone as follows:

USA: 800-475-6701

International: 320-365-3844

Access code: 643530

Seagate Technology Holdings is controlled by New S.A.C., a Cayman Island limited liability company, organized in late 2000 to acquire the hard disc drive, tape drive, software and storage solutions businesses and certain other assets of Seagate Technology, Inc.

Seagate Technology Holdings includes the Seagate hard disc drive business and XIOtech Corp. Seagate is a world leading provider of storage technology for Internet, business and consumer applications. The Company's products include disc drives for the Enterprise, PCs and Consumer Electronics. Seagate's market leadership is based on delivering award-winning products, customer support and reliability to meet the world's growing demand for information storage.

Seagate can be found around the globe and at www.seagate.com.

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