Crossroads Systems Teams With Dell to Develop Storage Consolidation Product for NT Market

Business Wire, Feb 23, 1999

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 1999--

Crossroads' storage router integral in the development

of Dell's new PowerVault SAN

Crossroads Systems Inc., developer and manufacturer of Fibre Channel storage routers, announced today that they have entered into an OEM agreement with Dell Computer Corporation to provide Crossroads' leading-edge router technology to help drive Dell's Storage Area Network (SAN) solution.

Dell, the world's leading direct computer systems company, is launching its first centralized storage consolidation and backup solution for the Microsoft NT environment -- the PowerVault SAN.

The Crossroads 4200 bi-directional Fibre Channel-to-SCSI Storage Router serves as a cornerstone in Dell's SAN solution, and will be offered to Dell customers as the Dell PowerVault 35F Fibre Channel Multiport Bridge, which will connect Dell's Powervault 130T Tape Backup libraries to Dell's new Fibre Channel switching technology. This technology allows SCSI-based backup solutions to run on the SAN, providing customers lower backup cost at faster rates.

Industry analysts report that SAN solutions, based on Fibre Channel technology, are recognized as the future in enterprise backup/restore strategies because they offer the customer the ability to scale storage cost effectively for the first time, taking advantage of all the speed and capacity available in tape libraries. Crossroads' router in Dell's PowerVault SAN product is a critical interface for seamless migration of SCSI devices to Fibre Channel networks. The router also enables LAN-free backup, which eliminates bottlenecks that plague enterprise network backup operations and allows remote serviceability and management.

"The unique interoperability feature of Crossroads' routers coupled with Dell's PowerVault SANs will offer customers the ability to integrate existing SCSI devices into Fibre Channel SAN and benefit from LAN-free Backup," said Brian R. Smith, CEO of Crossroads Systems. "The PowerVault SAN solution will allow organizations to add storage and performance incrementally while controlling initial costs."

"Crossroads has played an integral role in developing the PowerVault SAN, enabling us to offer our customers unique interoperability and storage flexibility," said Kevin Reinis, director of PowerVault marketing for Dell's Enterprise Systems Group. "The technological expertise and innovation provided by Crossroads allows us to provide a lower-cost SAN solution leveraging the latest high speed fibre-channel connections."

The partnership with Dell is the latest in a string of Crossroads announcements. Crossroads' OEM partnerships include Compaq, Hewlett Packard, McData, StorageTek, ADIC, INRANGE and Exabyte. In addition, Crossroads has launched an aggressive VAR campaign and expects the company's revenues in 1999 to increase significantly from customer wins in this marketplace. The Crossroads Verified SAN (CV-SAN) Solution Guide provides tested SAN Configurations to simplify systems design and installation. It is available on the Crossroads Web site: www.crossroads.com.

About Crossroads

Over the next five years, the integration of networks and storage will deliver startling advancements in the way data is stored, managed and accessed. Crossroads Systems Inc., the de facto standard in storage routing, is at the forefront of these efforts. Crossroads Systems is dedicated to delivering high-availability, system-independent Storage Networking solutions. The company's headquarters are located in Austin, Texas. For more information on Crossroads Systems and its products, please call 800/643-7148 or visit www.crossroads.com.

Names and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.