Mid-Tier Enterprises Embrace LeftHand Networks' IP SAN

Business Wire, Sept 20, 2004

BOULDER, Colo. -- LeftHand Networks Recognizes Mountain States Networking as Commercial Reseller of the Year in Growing Storage Marketplace

LeftHand Networks(R), a leading provider of complete, integrated IP storage area network (SAN) solutions, today named Mountain States Networking as its Commercial Reseller of the Year. Mountain States Networking, a leading integrator of network solutions, was recognized for its outstanding partnership and commitment to delivering the LeftHand SAN solutions to mid-tier enterprises that require full-featured solutions for storage, backup and disaster recovery needs.

According to Robert Harker, account manager for Mountain States Networking, many mid-tier enterprises are challenged with identifying cost-effective storage solutions capable of addressing long-term growth expectations and disaster recovery needs while dealing with aging infrastructures and shrinking budgets. Mountain States Networking customers that have chosen the LeftHand SAN as their network storage solution include: Montana State University-Northern, Davis County, City of Ogden, Market Star and Western States Insurance.

"Most of our customers are interested in moving from direct attached storage to a network storage environment, but don't have the budget to support fibre channel offerings," said Harker. "With LeftHand's IP SAN, we are able to deliver an easy-to-use SAN that actually reduces the backup window, enables server consolidation and the ability to centrally manage storage for distributed environments. The functionality for the value is unmatched."

Western States Insurance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Montana, was taxed with managing storage for 26 remote offices throughout the western United States and was advised to upgrade its direct attached storage network in order to provide redundancy across locations. Mountain States Networking introduced the LeftHand SAN as the ideal fit for the company's storage, backup and disaster recovery needs. In less then 24 hours, the company was able to deploy three terabytes of storage between two data centers as part of the company's disaster recovery initiative. At a fraction of the cost of alternative storage solutions, LeftHand provided a full-featured SAN with disaster recovery, backup and storage capabilities built into a solution that is easily managed by one system administrator.

"Mountain States Networking has contributed significantly to the success of LeftHand Networks in just nine months, especially in our ability to meet the specific needs of key industries and customer segments," said David Bangs, vice president of sales of LeftHand Networks. "The company's industry expertise, integration capability and strong customer traction makes Mountain States an ideal partner for us as we continue to bring IP SAN solutions to market."

LeftHand leads the IP SAN market with over 700 systems installed in multiple industries, including Fortune 1000 and mid-size companies in manufacturing, healthcare and life sciences, as well as government organizations and universities.

About LeftHand Networks

LeftHand Networks re-defined shared network storage in 2001 with the introduction of the first full-featured IP Storage Area Network (SAN). By building a SAN with LeftHand's SAN/iQ software and the existing Ethernet infrastructure, the LeftHand solution provides all the functionality of a fibre channel SAN while eliminating the learning curve, complexity and expensive components associated with fibre channel. SAN/iQ -- the intelligence behind the SAN -- spreads the power of the LeftHand SAN across all storage modules using a distributed computing model. The advantages for users include simple management and unlimited, dynamic growth, no single point of failure, and performance that scales up as storage capacity grows. The LeftHand SAN is ideal for server and storage consolidation, centralized backup, and disaster recovery projects.

About Mountain States Networking

Mountain States Networking Inc., a Cisco Systems Gold Certified Partner, provides and implements in-depth communication networks for the enterprise. As a leading network integrator provider of voice, data and network solutions in the west, Mountain States Networking deploys, maintains and optimizes enterprise network systems -- small or large, simple or complex -- to serve any specialized enterprise needs. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Mountain States Networking has been servicing customers nationally since 1995.