News release

Industry Leaders Team to Form Serial Attached SCSI Working Group to Address Next-Generation Interconnect Needs

Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ), IBM, LSI Logic (NYSE: LSI), Maxtor (NYSE: MXO) and Seagate today announced the Serial Attached SCSI Working Group, as an independent, open industry consortium to develop a new interconnect specification for SCSI. The mission of the Serial Attached SCSI Working Group is to lead the industry in defining a new serial point-to-point enterprise device attach interface, leveraging the SCSI protocol set and supporting a wide range of price/performance storage products. The Working Group is an open forum and is actively encouraging participation and contribution from additional technology companies towards developing the new specifications.

In addition, Adaptec, Fujitsu, Hitachi, QLogic, ServerWorks, and Western Digital announced their support for the Serial Attached SCSI Working Group initiative.

"Serial Attached SCSI is the logical evolution in the growth and development of better mid-range storage technology for internal and direct attached storage customers. This solution has its roots based on the same proven, robust, reliable, and high-performing SCSI technology that has been in the storage arena for more than 20 years," said Harry Mason, director, Serial Attached SCSI Working Group. "The important opportunity for Serial Attached SCSI is to meet critical customer needs for industry standards, common cabling and compatibility with other serial devices."

Serial Attached SCSI will leverage industry standards from parallel SCSI and Serial-ATA technology, to deliver an interconnect solution that will provide IT managers and integrators the flexibility to seamlessly run a wide range of serial-attached storage devices together. The final specification for Serial Attached SCSI will be determined by a wide representation of industry partners in the Working Group and appropriate industry standards organizations. The specification will be based on meeting the requirements to deliver more flexible storage I/O systems with a continued focus on reliability and cost-efficiencies.

Industry participation and collaboration will be critical towards shaping the new specification for both interface and device technologies. The intent of Serial Attached SCSI technology is to complement the evolution of ATA-based technology in the entry-level server market, as well as the continued deployment of Fibre Channel in advanced storage configurations such as SAN and NAS solutions. Serial Attached SCSI products are estimated to be available to the market in 2004.

About IBM

IBM develops and manufactures the industry's most advanced information technologies, including computer systems, software, networking systems, storage devices and microelectronics. IBM Storage Technology Division offers customers worldwide the most comprehensive range of industry-leading storage products available today. These storage solutions are offered through IBM as well as a large network of IBM Business Partners and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

About LSI Logic

LSI Logic Corporation (NYSE: LSI) is a leading designer and manufacturer of communications, consumer and storage semiconductors for applications that access, interconnect and store data, voice and video. In addition, the company supplies storage network solutions for the enterprise. LSI Logic is headquartered at 1551 McCarthy Boulevard, Milpitas, CA 95035, 866-574-5741, (within the U.S.), 719-533-7679 (outside U.S.), http://www.lsilogic.com.

About Maxtor

Maxtor Corporation (www.maxtor.com) is one of the world's leading suppliers of information storage solutions. The company has an expansive line of storage products for desktop computers, network storage, high-performance Intel-based servers, and consumer electronics. Maxtor has a reputation of being a proven market leader built by providing consistent high-quality products, and service and support for its customers. Maxtor and its products can be found at www.maxtor.com or by calling toll-free 800-2-MAXTOR. Maxtor is traded on the NYSE under the MXO symbol.

About Seagate

Seagate is the world's leading provider of storage technology for Internet, business and consumer applications. The company's products include disc drives for the Enterprise, PCs and Consumer Electronics, as well as Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions. Seagate's market leadership is based on delivering award-winning products, customer support and reliability to meet the world's growing demand for information storage. Seagate can be found around the globe and at www.seagate.com.

About Compaq

Founded in 1982, Compaq Computer Corporation ("Compaq") is a leading global provider of enterprise technology and solutions. Compaq designs, develops, manufactures and markets hardware, software, solutions and services, including industry-leading enterprise storage and computing solutions, fault-tolerant business-critical solutions, communication products, and desktop and portable personal computers that are sold in more than 200 countries. Information on Compaq and its products and services is available at http://www.compaq.com.