Tandberg Data And IBM Sign OEM Agreement For MLR1 Tape Drives On New AS/400e Systems And Servers; Companies Agree To Strategic Expansion Of Existing OEM Contract

Business Wire, Sept 2, 1997

SIMI VALLEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 2, 1997--In the latest of a series of major OEM contracts announced this year, Tandberg Data has expanded its 10-year-old OEM contract with IBM for its MLR1 Tape Drives.

IBM will sell Tandberg's MLR1 Tape Drive on the new IBM series of e-system and e-server AS/400 models, targeted for network and enterprise use.

Under this new agreement, the Tandberg Data MLR1 will be offered as a storage option on IBM AS/400e e-system Models 600, 620, 640 and 650, as well as on e-server Models S10, S20, S30 and S40. Earlier this month, the company announced an agreement with Sun Microsystems for the new Tandberg SLR5 4/8GB tape drive.

"We are very pleased that IBM has expanded the availability of Tandberg Data's MLR1 Tape Drive on the new line of AS/400e e-systems and servers, as this reaffirms their commitment to Tandberg Data's MLR technology, and the high performance, superior reliability and backward compatibility of the MLR1," said Richard Severa, vice president of marketing for Tandberg Data.

The MLR1 is Tandberg's 32GB capacity data storage system which utilizes Tandberg Data's Multichannel Linear Recording (MLR) technology to achieve unprecedented data capacity levels and transfer rates on quarter-inch tape drives.

MLR Technology Offers Backward Compatibility and Future Flexibility

Tandberg's MLR1, introduced last fall, relies on Multichannel Linear Recording (MLR) technology to achieve a data transfer rate of up to 180MB per minute, or 3 MB per second, using the hardware data compression mode. The MLR1 is the first generation of Tandberg Data's MLR 10 gigabyte family of data storage management solutions, and offers 16GB native capacity and 32GB capacity via hardware data compression.

The MLR1 offers complete backward read and write compatibility with the over 6 million quarter-inch cartridges already in use, which range from 150MB through 8GB. The MLR1's backward compatibility meets corporate needs for accessing archival data from older systems, and also provides total flexibility in future tape drive purchase decisions. The Tandberg MLR1 is also integrated into the company's MLR Series 1000 Library systems.

IBM's New AS/400e Family of Processors

IBM's new AS/400e family of processors includes four new models spanning 13 different processor features. Disk capacities for the new models run from a minimum 4.19GB to a maximum of 996.4GB on the high-end models. According to IBM, the new models offer more functions, higher performance and dramatically better price/performance than previous offerings.

The Tandberg MLR1 tape drive is customer-configurable, with one internal unit for Models 600 and S10 and up to 17 internal tape drives for the higher capacity models using IBM Expansion Units. For additional information on the AS/400e series, visit IBM's Web site at http://www.as400.ibm.com

Tandberg Data Inc.

Tandberg Data, based in Simi Valley, is a subsidiary of Tandberg Data ASA of Oslo, Norway. The company is the leading worldwide supplier of high speed, high-capacity SLR and MLR tape drives and libraries and related products for computer backup, archival storage and software distribution.

Tandberg Data's products are also sold through distributors, including Ingram Micro Inc., Tech Data, Gates/Arrow, Western Microtechnology, Bell Microproducts, Arrow/Schweber, Marshall Industries, and Wyle Electronics. Major OEM customers include Acer, Data General, Digital Equipment Corp., IBM, Lucent Technologies, NCR and Sun Microsystems.

For more information, contact Tandberg Data at 800/TANDBERG (826-3237), or visit them on the World Wide Web at http://www.tandberg.com .

CONTACT: Tandberg Data Inc.

Richard Severa, Vice President Marketing

805/579-1000

Fax: 805/579-2555

or

Fisher Business Communications Inc.

Pat Harriman A.E./P.R.

William L. Prichard, V.P./P.R.

714/556-1313

Fax: 714/556-1216