SANTA CLARA, Calif., and COSTA MESA, Calif., Aug. 4, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT), and Emulex Corporation (NYSE:ELX), the market leader in Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs) and embedded storage switches, today announced the qualification of Emulex's LP10000 and dual channel LP10000DC PCI-X Fibre Channel HBAs for use with the Hitachi Data Systems Lightning and Thunder storage systems. Hitachi Data Systems' qualification of Emulex's HBAs with its storage systems ensures seamless operation of the two companies' products for customers using either Windows or Solaris operating environments.
"We are committed to delivering the most advanced storage consolidation solutions to our customers," said Steve TenBarge, vice president, storage infrastructure product management, Hitachi Data Systems. "The Lightning and Thunder storage series offer seamless scalability with a flexible design that meets the diverse needs of end users who require instant data access with superior availability. Hitachi Data Systems' open and collaborative relationships with leading vendors, such as Emulex, enable us to meet that commitment."
"Emulex and Hitachi Data Systems have a longstanding relationship and are focused on delivering superior storage solutions to customers," said Mike Smith, executive vice president of worldwide marketing for Emulex. "Emulex's family of market-leading Fibre Channel HBAs provides networked storage solutions with the scalability, flexibility and reliability needed to deliver maximum value. Qualification by a leading storage provider with a history of best-in-class product offerings, such as Hitachi Data Systems, validates the quality of Emulex solutions."
Along with Emulex's current Windows driver, Hitachi Data Systems recently qualified Emulex's new Solaris driver that provides the following capabilities:
-- Enhanced no-reboot and performance capabilities for maximum
QoS
-- Dynamic addition of targets and LUNs
-- Dynamic firmware updates - without application or system
downtime
-- Support for Sun's Dynamic Reconfiguration - automatic
detection, installation and configuration of Emulex HBAs
-- Dynamic event logging - captures and reports SAN activity
without application interruption
In a recent Labs Report, Enterprise Storage Group identifies the Hitachi Lightning 9980V(tm) storage system as the industry's leading storage consolidation platform and found that customers replaced as many as eight competitive systems with one Lightning 9980V system.(1) Combined with the HiCommand(r) Storage Area Management Suite, these systems support "set and forget" management, protect data assets and optimize resources.
Emulex's LP10000 and LP10000DC, which are qualified by Hitachi Data Systems in Windows and Solaris environments, provide the scalable connectivity to SANs based on Hitachi Data Systems' storage solutions. The Emulex family of HBAs offers firmware-based architecture and operating system driver compatibility across Emulex's entire HBA product line, which provides customers with a simplified upgrade path, reduced management complexities and also ensures a lower total cost of ownership. The qualified Emulex LP10000 and dual channel LP10000DC HBAs are available now for use with the Hitachi Lightning and Thunder storage systems. For pricing information, contact Hitachi Data Systems.
About Emulex
Emulex Corporation is the world leader in Fibre Channel HBAs and delivers a broad range of intelligent building blocks for next generation storage networking systems. Emulex was named one of Forbes Magazine's 25 Fastest Growing Technology Companies, and ranked number 15 in Deloitte & Touche's 2003 Technology Fast 50.
The world's leading server and storage providers rely on Emulex HBAs, embedded storage switching and I/O controller products to build reliable, scalable and high performance storage solutions. The Emulex award-winning product families, including its LightPulse(tm) HBAs and InSpeed(tm) embedded storage switching products, are based on internally developed ASIC, firmware and software technologies, and offer customers high performance, scalability, flexibility and reduced total cost of ownership. The company's products have been selected by the world's leading server and storage providers, including Dell, EMC, Fujitsu Ltd., Fujitsu Siemens, Groupe Bull, HP, Hitachi Data Systems, IBM, NEC, Network Appliance, Quantum Corp., StorageTek, Sun Microsystems, Unisys and Xyratex. In addition, Emulex includes industry leaders Brocade, Computer Associates, Intel, McDATA, Microsoft and VERITAS among its strategic partners. Corporate headquarters are located in Costa Mesa, California. News releases and other information about Emulex Corporation are available at http://www.emulex.com.
EMULEX -- We network storage
About Hitachi Data Systems
Hitachi Data Systems leverages global R&D resources to develop storage solutions built on industry-leading technology with the performance, availability and scalability to maximize customers' ROI and minimize their risk. By focusing on the customer's perspective as we apply the best hardware, software, and services from Hitachi and our partners, we uniquely satisfy our customers' business needs.
With 2,800 employees, Hitachi Data Systems conducts business through direct and indirect channels in the public, government and private sectors in over 170 countries. Its customers include more than 50 percent of Fortune 100 companies. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.hds.com.
About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 326,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2003 (ended March 31, 2004) consolidated sales totaled 8,632.4 billion yen ($81.4 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors, including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.hitachi.com.
Emulex Safe Harbor Statement
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: With the exception of historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties. The company wishes to caution readers that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Those factors include the rapidly changing nature of technology, evolving industry standards and frequent introductions of new products and enhancements by competitors; fluctuation in the growth of Fibre Channel and IP markets; changes in economic conditions or changes in end-user demand for technology solutions; fluctuations or delays in customer orders; the highly competitive nature of the markets for Emulex's products; Emulex's ability to gain market acceptance for its products; the company's ability to attract and retain skilled personnel; the company's reliance on third-party suppliers. These and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are also discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its recent filings on Forms 8-K, 10-K and 10-Q. This news release refers to various products and companies by their trade names. In most, if not all, cases these designations are claimed as trademarks or registered trademarks by their respective companies.
(c) Hitachi Data Systems is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd.
(1) Asaro, Tony and Brian Barrett, "Hitachi Lightning 9980V: Enterprise Storage Consolidation Analysis." Enterprise Storage Group, Inc. Winter 2004.