NEWS BRIEFS

Colorado Springs, COLO. — Compaq Computer Corporation announced the opening of a 22,000-square foot facility in Colorado Springs that will house the company’s most advanced lab for testing and qualifying network storage interoperability. The facility will support enterprise storage initiatives announced by Compaq including developing open Storage Area Network (Open SAN) technology, and the recently announced alliance with IBM.

“The Enterprise Storage Customer Center (ESCC) is evidence of Compaq’s focused commitment to deliver the Open SAN,” said Howard Elias, Vice President and General Manager of Compaq Storage Products Group. “It will be used to extend coordinated interoperability testing between major storage companies, and will provide training for IT professionals in the deployment and use of advanced enterprise storage technologies,” Elias said.

The storage area network market is expected to expand tenfold over 5 years, from $2.7 billion in 1998 to $27 billion in 2003. Internet- and web-based applications are driving demand among businesses for efficient and secure information storage. Storage Area Networks (SANs) provide the computing infrastructure required to meet these needs.

The mission of the Compaq ESCC is developing virtualized Open SAN technology, based on VersaStor, that will allow computers and storage devices from different makers to be networked together for reliable data storage and retrieval. This technology gives customers greater freedom to meet the needs of the new economy while protecting investments in current storage technology.

The ESCC is composed of a Network Storage Interoperability Lab, a Customer Training Center and an Executive Briefing Center. Some of the Interoperability Lab’s objectives include:

— Showing how an Open SAN works with real business applications;

— Showing how a large number of disparate storage systems can be configured and managed from a single location.

— Developing and demonstrating advanced, SAN-based data protection and recovery capabilities, including non-disruptive, serverless data movement and use of automated snapshots as a backup and recovery solution.

The Customer Training Center will provide in-depth training of IT professionals in networked storage implementation. Sessions will feature information and training on SANs as well as Compaq’s StorageWorks and SANworks product lines.

The Compaq ESCC will complement the Storage Networking Technology Center announced earlier this year by the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). Compaq is currently constructing this center near the ESCC. Both centers will focus on interoperability and open storage networking standards.

The ESCC is part of Compaq’s ongoing investment for testing and qualifying open enterprise storage technologies – an investment that now exceeds $300 million. Compaq’s interoperability investments span four facilities in three states and encompass more than 340,000 square feet of development and laboratory facilities.

Compaq Computer Corporation, a Fortune Global 100 company, is the largest supplier of computing systems in the world. Compaq designs, develops, manufactures and markets hardware, software, solutions, and services, including industry-leading enterprise computing solutions, fault-tolerant business-critical solutions, and communications products, commercial desktop and portable products, and consumer PCs. Visit http://www.compaq.com for more information.

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