Cluster Computing:

POLYSERVE UNVEILS CLUSTERING SOLUTION FOR MICROSOFT WINDOWS

PolyServe Inc. launched Matrix Server shared data clustering software for Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003, the first clustering solution for Windows to integrate scalable data sharing and high availability in a single product.

The product represents a departure from traditional Windows clustering approaches and ushers in a new era of scalable, modular computing architectures for the Windows data center. Modular computing allows customers to pay as they grow by adding compute, storage, or network capacity and performance to applications on an as-needed basis, with no disruption of service.

As a result of its pioneering development in shared data clustering, PolyServe has already garnered broad-based customer adoption of Matrix Server for Windows and announced an expansion of its alliance with HP to include IT consolidation solutions for the Windows data center. Among the companies deploying Matrix Server software for Windows are Star-Gas Energy, Synovate, Ty Lin, University Healthcare Consortium and Wells Fargo Bank and Company.

"PolyServe is pioneering an entirely new category for enterprise clustering with the introduction of PolyServe Matrix Server for Windows," said Arun Taneja, founder of the Taneja Group. "This is precisely the kind of scalable, high-performance clustering solution that will enable the Microsoft Windows platform to support mission-critical workloads."

Windows IT Sprawl - An IT Management Nightmare

Today, the average enterprise data center is beset by server and storage sprawl -- typified by unmanageable numbers of standalone servers, active- passive server pairs and storage silos. Making matters worse, data growth, application performance requirements and system uptime service levels are dramatically rising as businesses become more dependent on IT. However, IT asset utilization rates continue to remain unacceptably low. The data center operations staff is being squeezed -- unable to keep up with the growth and demands of the business, yet unable to grow headcount due to budget limitations. The only solution is a new approach to the fundamental problem.

PolyServe Matrix Server software enables enterprises to regain control of their Windows-based data centers by consolidating disparate server and storage resources onto a centrally managed, scalable cluster. With PolyServe Matrix Server, the cluster becomes a single ultra-scalable, highly available platform on which to host critical business applications. Unlike traditional consolidation approaches that require large, monolithic SMP servers and virtual machine software, PolyServe allows customers to deploy the most cost- effective, high- performance storage and compute building blocks as a single coordinated system and grow the capacity and performance of the overall system over time without disruption.

Customers deploying Matrix Server achieve a dramatically more manageable data center, reduce server and storage costs by up to 50 percent and increase availability for mission-critical applications, such as Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Database 10g and 10g Real Application Clusters (RAC) databases, file and print serving and Web content serving.

"The market opportunity for PolyServe is large because of the acute problems of storage and server sprawl plaguing today's Windows-based data center," said Mike Stankey, president and CEO of PolyServe. "PolyServe Matrix Server represents a quantum leap forward in enabling manageable, cost-effective modular computing for the Windows data center."

PolyServe Strengthens Alliance with HP

With the introduction of the PolyServe Matrix Server for Windows, PolyServe has expanded its alliance with HP to include IT consolidation initiatives in the Windows data center. This collaboration builds on PolyServe's relationship with HP, which includes an alliance around PolyServe Matrix Server for Linux, as well as memberships in the HP PartnerFlex Program and the HP Blade Alliance Program.

HP has agreed to offer File Server Consolidation and SQL Server Consolidation solutions built on PolyServe Matrix Server for Windows to customers around the globe. With PolyServe, HP has validated how PolyServe Matrix Server for Windows will help meet the business and technical needs of customers who plan to consolidate Windows-based platforms. The validation was conducted using industry-standard HP ProLiant servers and HP StorageWorks systems. The solutions are available for sale through HP sales representatives and channel partners.

"As the number one provider of Windows-based servers, HP is pleased to offer customers IT consolidation and virtualization solutions enabled by PolyServe Matrix Server that deliver agility and efficiency critical to an Adaptive Enterprise," said Nick van der Zweep, director of virtualization and utility computing, Enterprise Systems Group, HP. "HP ProLiant and StorageWorks systems, combined with PolyServe Matrix Server for Windows, provides our mutual Windows customers a highly differentiated offering for consolidation and virtualization."

Introducing Matrix Server for Windows

PolyServe Matrix Server software enables customers to build flexible, scalable clusters of up to 16 Windows-based servers that concurrently read and write to shared data on a storage area network (SAN). Matrix Server combines a true symmetric cluster file system (CFS) that enables scalable data sharing, high availability (HA) services that increase system uptime, and cluster and storage management capabilities that allow multiple servers and pools of storage to be managed as one.

Matrix Server is the only clustering solution for Windows to integrate data sharing and HA with a single, easy-to-use control point for cluster management. Using Matrix Server, data centers can consolidate computing resources across the infrastructure and experience significant benefits:

• Manage fewer servers and data pools in order to achieve better capacity utilization
• Manage a cluster centrally as one computing resource (servers, data, application tiers)
• Achieve inherent high availability and recoverability -- any server can step in for another
• Grow server and storage capacity without disrupting services on the rest of the cluster
• "Pay as you grow" with right-sized servers and storage

Solution-Oriented Focus

Keeping with the goal of solving real customer problems, PolyServe designed and developed Matrix Server for Windows specifically to work with the most demanding applications in the Windows data center. In addition to the product offering, PolyServe announced the immediate availability of four solutions packs:

• PolyServe SQL Server Consolidation Solution Pack
• PolyServe File and Print Consolidation Solution Pack
• PolyServe Oracle9i and 10g RAC Manageability Solution Pack
• PolyServe Simplified Web Content Consolidation Solution Pack