NEWS BRIEFS

Palo Alto, CALIF. — Sun Microsystems, Inc. expanded its tape backup product family with the introduction of the Sun StorEdge L180 tape library, the Sun StorEdge L20 tape library and the Sun StorEdge L9 tape autoloader. These new additions to the Sun StorEdge tape family address the need for increasing automatic backup options fueled by the trend toward Internet data centers.

According to International Data Corporation, tape automation shipments are expected to grow an estimated 24% by 2004, (IDC Worldwide Tape Automation Market Forecast and Analysis 1999-2004). Sun is taking a leadership role in this market by delivering new products that offer mixed-media support, remote monitoring, and scalable capacity.

“We’re seeing increasing demand for tape automation from banks, insurance companies, utility companies and credit card companies where in some areas tape backup is required by regulation,” said Denise Shiffman, vice president of marketing for Sun Network Storage. “Although some storage vendors have suggested that tape libraries have outgrown their usefulness, we see a consistently growing demand evidenced by the ever increasing number of companies and enterprise departments that are employing Sun StorEdge tape libraries for data protection, near line storage and other applications.”

The new Sun StorEdge tape automation systems increase backup options for dot-com and traditional businesses ranging from entry-level to midrange in size, and for departmental needs within the enterprise. The highly flexible Sun StorEdge L180 tape library delivers mission-critical performance and reliability, concurrent DLT7000 and 9840 tape drive support, remote monitoring, and scalable capacity up to six terabytes (TB) for midrange environments. The new Sun StorEdge L20 tape library and the Sun StorEdge L9 tape autoloader offer high-capacity backup in a small footprint for workgroups and departmental needs.

“Smaller, more compact tape library systems with more options for expandability will be extremely popular in the future,” said Shiffman. “The Sun StorEdge L180 tape library is an example of a new, affordable solution that can be upgraded as technology evolves and will be in place to take advantage of SAN technology as it solidifies industry wide.”

Sun also offers complete bundled tape backup solutions that include comprehensive service, software and management services to meet customer needs at every level from the workgroup to the enterprise. Sun’s data protection solutions include sophisticated local and remote data management software such as Sun StorEdge Network Data Replicator and Sun StorEdge Instant Image software, which provide protection from planned or unplanned disruptions and greatly reduce the time and expense of recovery.

The Sun StorEdge L180 tape library is a comprehensive backup solution that enables midrange customers to achieve enterprise-level data protection and accessibility. Within a small, modular footprint, the system provides high-speed automated backup, quick restores and scalable capacity. The system also delivers mission critical reliability through redundant system components, ultra-reliable robotics and simple serviceability.

The Sun StorEdge L180 is one of the first tape libraries to offer support for both DLT7000 and 9840 drives separately or concurrently. The flexible architecture of the tape library allows customers to start with a base system and select the drives that meet the needs of their specific applications. Customers can select DLT7000 (35 GB) drives for higher capacity or 9840 drives (20 GB) for higher throughput (5 MB/second vs. 10 MB/second, respectively). The easy-to-manage system enables the customer to assign applications to specific tape drives within the system and to add storage capacity as needed.

The bundled Sun StorEdge L180 tape library solution includes library monitoring software, installation, and one-year onsite service. The library monitoring software provides remote monitoring and diagnostics, as well as error logging and notification.

Sun Professional Services has also expanded its offerings to support the Sun StorEdge L180 tape library to help customers implement effective and scalable backup strategies. The consulting services include Tape Library Implementation, Backup and Restore Assessment, Architecture, and Backup and Implementation. These services are part of a comprehensive portfolio of Sun Data and Storage Management consulting services that help customers assess their storage needs and architect and implement solutions. For more information, visit http://www.sun.com/service/sunps/enterprise/dsmovw.html .

Sun has expanded its tape automation product line at the entry level with the new Sun StorEdge L20 tape library and Sun StorEdge L9 tape autoloader. These low-cost solutions for workgroups and departments provide compact, high-speed tape backup with the ability to expand as needed.

The Sun StorEdge L20 tape library enables unattended backup for entry-level to midrange deployments and can scale to more than 2 TB within a standard 72-inch rack – one of the industry’s best capacity-to-footprint ratios. The rack-mountable or deskside solution delivers the reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) features of larger tape libraries and now includes remote Web management capabilities.

The Sun StorEdge L9 tape autoloader is ideal for environments such as design or engineering workgroups, remote offices and departments where high capacity, compact form factor, and low cost are critical. The system includes one DLT8000 tape drive and nine DLT8000 cartridges, for a native capacity of 360GB. Two Sun StorEdge L9 tape autoloaders can be rackmounted side by side in a standard rack for 720GB of capacity and one of the highest data transfer rates in this class.

============================================================