News release

Compaq StorageWorks Redefines and Extends Business Value of Storage Area Networks

Building on the momentum of its recently announced Enterprise Virtual Array and NAS Executor storage products, Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ) has moved to further redefine and extend the value of the storage area network into the emerging enterprise with its delivery of the StorageWorks Modular SAN Array 1000.

The first 2GB Fibre Channel storage system designed to bridge the gap between direct attached storage (DAS) and the SAN, the MSA1000's DtS (DAS to SAN) architecture enables customers to quickly and easily migrate data utilized by Compaq ProLiant servers to the new SAN-based MSA1000 storage system.

"Compaq StorageWorks again leads the way with cost-effective, modular storage solutions that are designed to provide the best business value for our customers," said Mark Lewis, vice president and general manager of Compaq Enterprise Storage Group (ESG). "More and more customers want to implement SANs, but many still have not moved forward due to concerns about complexity, total cost of ownership (TCO) and investment protection. The MSA1000 combines simplicity of SAN implementation with a low TCO from the market's SAN leader to deliver another proof point of Compaq's commitment to protecting the customer's investment."

Roger Archibald, vice president of the Compaq ESG's Enterprise Storage Array division, added: "Compaq pioneered the SAN space. The MSA1000 is specifically designed for the more than five million ProLiant servers currently deployed by Compaq customers as well as those customers with other servers wishing to introduce SANs into their storage infrastructure. The MSA100 delivers state-of-the-art ENSA-2 storage technology to the entry-level and mid-range market."

Customers Comment on MSA 1000

"Our company wanted the best of both worlds: a highly scalable SAN and an affordable system. The StorageWorks Modular SAN Array 1000 system gives us the scalability we need to match our growth at the best price/performance ratio on the market," said Rich Baldwin, president and CEO of Nth Generation.

Steve Driesens, enterprise solutions specialist at VL Systems, remarked: "We've wanted to implement a SAN for some time now, but it seemed excessively expensive. The StorageWorks Modular SAN Array 1000 allowed us to turn our existing direct attached storage into a SAN by simply moving our drives into the MSA1000 with all data intact. We quickly consolidated our storage and realized significant savings by leveraging the existing disks."

DtS Architecture – DAS to SAN

The MSA1000 delivers SAN data migration in minutes, not days. With virtually instantaneous migration, data can be seamlessly migrated from Compaq Smart Array controllers simply by moving the disk drives into the MSA 1000 SAN configuration.

Embedded Fibre Channel Fabric Switch

With the optional embedded Fibre Channel fabric switches in the MSA1000, servers can plug directly into the SAN further reducing the cost and complexity of implementing the SAN solution. In addition, customers receive next generation bandwidth with 2GB/s (200MB/s) bandwidth. The embedded fabric switches also improve fault tolerance and availability, with the addition of a second switch and second array controller creating multiple redundant data paths from the servers to the MSA1000.

Advanced Data Guarding

Compaq enables customers to protect their data from loss or corruption by integrating advanced data guarding into the MSA1000. Even if two disks fail simultaneously, no data will be lost.

Based on Compaq's ENSA-2 modular architecture, the MSA1000 SAN solution has been specifically designed for customers planning storage or server consolidation to better utilize their overall storage resources. With this simple-to-deploy and easy-to- manage storage system, customers have the choice of adding capacity cost efficiently as their storage needs grow. The MSA1000 is available and shipping to customers at this time. For more information about the MSA1000 and Compaq StorageWorks please visit http://www.compaq.com/storage.

About Compaq StorageWorks

Compaq StorageWorks, the number one global storage solutions supplier, is the leader in the development and delivery of the enterprise SAN. Recognized for its vision and ability to execute, Compaq StorageWorks is committed to driving radical simplification and investment protection for enterprise and SMB customers. By continuing to extend its Enterprise Network Storage Architecture (ENSA) in key areas such as virtualization, automation, universal network storage and life cycle data management, StorageWorks enables customers to efficiently manage complex, mixed storage environments. More information on StorageWorks and SANworks solutions is available at http://www.compaq.com/storage.

Company Background

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.