Amdahl Introduces Fibre 2000 Storage Array Series for Use on Solaris Operating Systems; New Offering Provides the Data Protection of RAID Technology with Fibre Channel Performance at a Competitive Price

Business Wire, April 16, 1996

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 16, 1996--Amdahl Corporation, an enterprise computing company, today expanded its line of open systems storage products with the introduction of the Fibre 2000 Storage Array Series. For use on Solaris(R) operating systems, the new Fibre 2000 Series is optimized for data warehousing and other applications that require high throughput. With the versatility to be configured for relatively small departmental servers or to fulfill larger multi-terabyte storage requirements, the Fibre 2000 delivers the benefits of data protection, fiber channel performance, and high capacity with the ease of graphical user interface (GUI) management at a competitive price.

The Fibre 2000 arrays can be configured with various levels of Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) to assure data will not be lost even if a drive fails. The flexibility to choose RAID levels 0, 1, or 5 allows customers the protection level that best fits their availability, performance, and price requirements. The use of 25 megabyte-per-second fiber channels enhances speed and improves connectivity. For protection against a disaster in a single building, Fibre 2000 arrays can be connected to a server located in an alternate building up to two kilometers away.

"The Fibre 2000 series expands the Amdahl open systems storage line to bring further value to our Solaris server customers," said Charles Foley, Amdahl vice president, Open Systems Storage. "This offering is an excellent complement to our Series 3000 product for customers with general-purpose storage environments."

To increase the performance of the entire system, the Fibre 2000 intelligent controller, with its non-volatile cache, off-loads much of the I/O processing burden from the server CPU.

When used with A FailSafe(TM) software, the Fibre 2000 Storage Array Series supports the Amdahl end-to-end availability strategy with "hot spares" and a dual-ported controller for failover protection. The "hot spare" option allows customers to choose the exact time to replace a faulty disk. Because the "hot spare" is activated immediately, data is rebuilt and quickly restores RAID protection. Drive replacement is fast and easy because no special tools are required.

An easy-to-understand GUI interface tool allows the user to monitor status, tune performance, and reconfigure the system using simple commands while continuing to allow users full access to their data.

The Fibre 2000 Storage Array Series is available in three models, the 2100, the 2200 and the 2500. The Model 2100 array is designed to provide maximum flexibility and high performance at a very competitive price using up to thirty 2.2 GB low profile 3.5 inch drives. The Model 2200 delivers the necessary scalability for datacenter applications requiring multi-terabytes of storage by utilizing up to 36 nine GB, 5.25 inch drives. Both models support disk replacement without taking the system down or rebooting.

The Model 2500 provides high availability features over and above those offered in either the Model 2100 and 2200 storage arrays. The 2500 combines the Fibre 2000 controller with hot pluggable disk drives and with redundant, "hot" pluggable power supplies and fans. Performance and capacity requirements are met with 3.5 inch 4.2 GB disk drives.

The Fibre 2000 Storage Array Series integrates with the Sun Microsystems line of Ultra(TM) Enterprise(TM) servers, also introduced today by Amdahl. These UltraSPARC(R)-based servers offer unprecedented performance, throughput and enhanced availability features which are optimal for the implementation of business critical applications, such as SAP R/3, data warehousing and OLTP.

Amdahl is offering a full range of products in the Ultra Enterprise family. The high-end Ultra Enterprise 6000 offers up to 30 UltraSPARC processors, 30 gigabytes of main memory and up to 10 terabytes of disk storage. The Ultra Enterprise 3000 offers up to six UltraSPARC processors, up to six gigabytes of main memory and two terabytes of disk storage. The midrange Ultra Enterprise 4000 and Ultra Enterprise 5000 models are well suited for both database and application server requirements. Also included in the Amdahl offering are the Ultra Enterprise workgroup servers: Ultra Enterprise 1, Ultra Enterprise 2 and Ultra Enterprise 150.

The Fibre 2000 Storage Array series is backed by world-class Amdahl customer service and support. Amdahl Premium Service provides customers with pre-installation planning, physical installation, on-site training, parts replacement, and 24 hour a day central-site support.

Amdahl Corporation (AMEX:AMH) is a worldwide supplier of large-scale System/390 compatible processors, UNIX(R) systems software and servers, data storage subsystems, data communications products, applications development software, and a variety of educational and consulting services. Amdahl products are sold in more than 30 countries for use across all types of computing environments. -0-

Note to Editors: Amdahl is a registered trademark of Amdahl Corporation. A logo and A FailSafe are trademarks of Amdahl Corporation. Sun, Sun Microsystems, Ultra, and Ultra Enterprise are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Solaris is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. SPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International, Inc. UltraSPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International, Inc. licensed exclusively to Sun Microsystems, Inc. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Ltd. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.