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CHAPARRAL NETWORK STORAGE TEAMS WITH FalconStor

Chaparral Network Storage Inc, a developer of specialized appliances that deliver data across global storage networks, and FalconStor Software Inc, a leading provider of network storage infrastructure software, have announced the incorporation of FalconStor's IPStor software with select models of the Chaparral RIO RFF288 and RFF244 RIO DISK Storage Subsystem, to be marketed and sold as Chaparral RAIDar Provisioning Services (RAIDar PS).

RAIDar PS connects the recently announced RIO DISK storage system to Fabric Area Networks (FAS) using both Storage Area Network (SAN) fabric and Ethernet Networks for storage over IP. Both FC-SAN and IP-SAN attached hosts are able to access and share the RIO storage appliance over local SANs and over long distance IP networks. RAIDar PS software runs on a dedicated RAIDar PS server and provides a gateway to the RIO DISK storage, consolidating and optimizing storage utilization with just-in-time provisioning.

Chaparral will offer pre-configured, plug-and-play RAIDar PS storage solution suites. One of the RAIDar PS suites provides for automated incremental snapshots to minimize the window of data loss. IPStor's file system and database snapshot technology ensures that the snapshot can be taken real-time with full transactional integrity by quiescence of the file system or active database, such as Oracle, DB2, Exchange, and Notes. Whenever the system suffers data loss due to application failure, human error or virus attack, the administrator can restore the disk to its prior state. Similarly, when the administrator receives a user's request to retrieve deleted e-mail message or lost files, the administrator can restore a disk to its prior state or create a new virtual disk instantaneously.

"The combination of Chaparral and FalconStor products will give customers another simple way to deploy, provision and manage storage in departmental Fabric Attached Storage environments," said Jamie Gruener, Senior Analyst, Yankee Group. "This solution gives customers another way to more cost-effectively manage their storage environments."

RAIDar PS software provides Chaparral customers with state-of-the-art software, which enables the RIO DISK storage solution to advance to a new level of performance. By adding the RAIDar PS to the Chaparral RIO DISK storage system, storage partners will be able to deliver world-class enterprise storage solutions.

"FalconStor's IPStor allows a user to take the best of class storage solution such as the RIO and provision data storage across the network," said Brad Wenzel, president of Wenzel Data in Stillwater, Minnesota. "When offering centralized storage services such as SAN/NAS, SnapShot, Remote Replication, TimeMark, Zero Impact Backup and virtualization in conjunction with high performance, cost effective storage across the network, customers can achieve EMC/HDS performance and data availability for a fraction of the cost. Our studies have shown that the RIO and IPStor solution is as fast as the typical expensive monolithic storage devices to network storage. Chaparral and FalconStor allows Wenzel Data to achieve a true networked storage environment without dependence on the expensive disk vendors."

Teaming up with FalconStor provides proven centralized storage management solutions for RIO RAID, and adds all IPStor features to the existing RIO features like Active-Active failover, high performance 750MB/s + bandwidth, 8 host ports, plug-and-play compatibility with 1Gb and 2 Gb SANs and capacity expansion up to 36TB. The RAIDar PS enhances RIO benefits and allows for data manageability and the insurance that a company's data is protected.

RAIDar PS features are highlighted in three specific areas, which include capacity and data management, data availability and data recovery.

Capacity and data management features:

• Attachment to Fibre Channel, IP-SAN and iSCSI clients allows the RIO to be used and configured in complex data availability applications like mirroring and snapshots.
• Data Enabler feature allows data already stored on SANs to take advantage of the entire key RAIDar Provisioning Services including remote replication, Snapshot, TimeMark/TimeView, and mirroring of existing LUNs without any migration or copying.

Data Availability features:

• Asynchronous and synchronous mirroring protects against the consequences of loss to data access by providing fault tolerance for storage volumes over long distances.<
• Active-Active RAIDar Provisioning Services feature provides added path and storage server redundancy.
• Replication feature allows fast data synchronization of storage volumes and can be used in both IP and Fibre Channel-based storage networks.

Data Recovery features:

• Snapshot Copy feature allows creation of an independent, point-in-time copy of RIO storage volume, which can serve as a backup for mission-critical data.
• TimeMark feature enables creation of multiple instantaneous point-in-time copies and guards against data loss caused by data corruption such as accidental deletion of files stored on RIO.
• Backup enabler feature allows data stored on RIO using RAIDar PS servers to be backed-up using Extended Copy protocol that enables data to be moved directly from RIO to a low-cost alternative such as Fibre-ATA disk or tape.

"With the growing need for disaster avoidance and business continuity storage solutions, customers are looking for tightly-integrated offerings to help secure their data systems with immediate restoration features. Chaparral's RAIDar PS, an optimized version of FalconStor's IPStor, combined with Chaparral's RIO DISK Storage Subsystem provides the fault-tolerant, scalable storage solution that customers are demanding," said Cooper Cowart, Chaparral Network Storage vice president of marketing. "Furthermore, the price point of the Chaparral/FalconStor solution allows for the budget-conscience customer to fulfill the demand of continuous access to information."

"Combining Chaparral's RIO fault tolerant technology with IPStor's aggressive performance and data protection storage services creates a powerful storage solution for the mid-range customer who requires enterprise-class capability in their IT environment," said Bernie Wu, FalconStor vice president of business development. "Chaparral's RAIDar PS appliance product will provide an efficient storage architecture crucial for business organizations dealing with the growing quantity of critical data that needs to be effectively managed and protected."

Availability

Chaparral RAIDar Provisioning Services software along with RIO DISK storage systems will be available as a complete solution immediately from select premier Chaparral value-added resellers worldwide.

About Chaparral

Chaparral Network Storage Inc, a privately held company headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, designs and markets storage appliances that provide simple solutions to common storage networking problems. Chaparral specializes in advanced performance devices that deliver data efficiently within the network, and sells protocol bridges, data routers, RAID controllers and disk array appliances that are network-ready. Chaparral's storage networking appliances feature SCSI and FC connectivity, easy device configuration and management tools, and tested interoperability with leading SAN products and storage resource management software. Chaparral's family of 2Gb Fibre Channel appliances allows any system administrator to build high performance storage networks on a manageable budget. Chaparral's solutions are available through select storage OEMs, resellers, and distributors worldwide.

About FalconStor

FalconStor Software Inc offers network storage infrastructure software that dramatically reduces storage operating costs by aggregating and provisioning storage capacity and management services over Fibre Channel and IP-based storage networks. With unprecedented reliability, performance, manageability, and availability, FalconStor's flagship product, IPStor, enables leading IT organizations and Service Providers to deploy a highly available network storage infrastructure to ensure business continuity.

Founded in 2000, FalconStor is headquartered in Melville, NY. International offices include Paris, Tokyo and Taichung, Taiwan. FalconStor is a voting member of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) and Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA). For more information, visit www.falconstor.com or call 631-777-5188.

Contact: Jennifer Ruder of Chaparral Network Storage, 303-845-3200, jruder@chaparralnet.com.