Features - Storage Innovations:

DataDirect PROVIDES PLUG AND PLAY APPLIANCE

DataDirect Networks, a leading provider of the world's highest performance storage networking appliances, announced that they have begun production of a plug and play appliance that allows IT professionals to create affordable and scalable SANs for workgroup and departmental use. The S2A 3000 Silicon Storage Appliance is a simple to deploy, easy to manage and affordable storage network appliance that allows companies to achieve application performance gains, cost-effective scalability and simplified management with an applianceenabled SAN.

Based on DataDirect Networks' proven Silicon Storage Appliance technology, S2A 3000 Silicon Storage Appliances supply an aggregate bandwidth up to 800 megabytes per second to workgroups typically consisting of one to twenty-four Linux, Unix, Windows NT/2000, Sun, AIX, Macintosh and SGI compute nodes. The S2A 3000 can easily manage storage network environments ranging in capacity from 500 GB to 14 Terabytes.

Deploying a workgroup SAN using the S2A 3000 is virtually plug and play, with users easily connecting servers and workstations into one side of the 1U high appliance and commodity-priced JBOD disks into the other side. System configuration and network virtualization is done in a quick, three-step process. Scaling of the storage network and activation of additional software modules (included in the S2A 3000) can be quickly and non-disruptively activated with a software key. In addition, S2A 3000 appliances can also be deployed in a "couplet" fashion to bring highly available, redundant solutions to businesses.

Announced for orders in April, the S2A 3000 has generated substantial interest among decision makers in the company's core vertical markets that include rich media content creation and delivery, high performance computing deployments in broadcasting, production and post production facilities, government agencies, life sciences, oil and gas, and imaging. The S2A 3000 is the newest of DataDirect's comprehensive line of storage networking products that focus on performance and scalability for OEM, VAR, system integrators and end user applications, allowing IT professionals to increase their application's productivity, providing data at least three times faster than existing Storage Area Networking (SAN) solutions and ten times faster than Network Attached Storage (NAS) technology.

"Companies want the benefits that SANs can bring, but have been held back by complexity and management costs associated with building first generation SANs - until now," Brad Winett, vice president, business development, DataDirect Networks, said. "The S2A 3000 Silicon Storage Appliance has been created to give business a way to quickly deploy a scalable, easy to manage SAN that brings increased workflow efficiencies and productivity while lowering total costs of ownership, giving companies a new and affordable way to implement a storage area network.

Pricing and Availability S2A 3000 Silicon Storage Appliance-based solutions (that include appliance plus storage, rack and enclosures) start from under $40,000 and are available immediately from DataDirect Networks.

Customers using DataDirect's Silicon Storage Appliances include the E! Networks, Time Warner Cable, RTL Television, British Broadcasting Company, CineGroupe, Star TV, Loudeye, NASA, NCSA, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, National Century Financial Enterprises, Sandia National Laboratories, CardioNow, and Sonic Foundry, among others. DataDirect SAN partnerships include industry leaders VERITAS Software, Seagate, Emulex, and QLogic, among others.

About DataDirect Networks Inc

DataDirect Networks is a leader in the rapidly growing market for intelligent storage networking appliances. Serving IT professionals in the broadcasting, digital production, government, defense, life science, and oil and gas industries, DataDirect Networks' Silicon Storage Appliances make it easy, simple and trouble-free to accelerate and manage applications, dramatically reducing TCO and increasing ROI. For more information, visit www.datadirectnet.com.