AIIM 2000 Demo Will Highlight HP Systems, ISV Partners; HP Announces MO-FC Integration Roadmap

PALO ALTO, California, April 4, 2000

Worldwide magneto-optical (MO) jukebox market-share leader Hewlett-Packard Company today announced high-speed Fibre Channel (FC) connectivity to its HP SureStore and HP SureStore E families of MO jukeboxes. With the help of its software partners, HP will showcase this added functionality at the AIIM Conference and Exposition (booth No. 1303) in New York, which runs April 9 through 12.

With Fibre Channel emerging as the storage interconnect technology of choice in enterprise environments, HP, along with its ISV partners, has outlined a point-to-point connectivity solution that lets customers take advantage of Fibre Channel's speed and flexibility now, while preparing for the more advanced Fibre Channel-based Storage Area Networks (SANs) of the near future.

"The market is ready for a high-speed near-line storage solution from HP," said Mike Peebles, MO product manager with HP's Storage Systems Division. "Today, we're demonstrating how customers can take significant steps toward building integrated MO-Fibre Channel storage systems. In alliance with our ISVs, HP is enabling point-to-point connectivity now, while opening the door to dedicated, high-speed Fibre Channel-based SANs."

ISVs Play Key Role in MO-FC Integration

HP's industry alliances with key ISVs play a critical role in an integrated MO-FC solution. Four key ISVs, chosen for their positions in the marketplace and demonstrated technical expertise in the area of jukebox management, lead the way.
QStar's HSM and Data Director enable multiple optical disks to be combined into a single Logical Volume. They also support t ransaction-logging cache, automated volume tracking, mirroring, and hot standby for both UNIX(R) and NT system environments.

HP is currently working with its partners to broaden the functionality beyond point-to-point. Arbitrated loops and switched fabrics will allow multiple servers and jukeboxes, as well as other storage devices, to be connected together. Loops allow users to access multiple jukeboxes from more than one server, while switched environments enable conversations between any attached devices. These advances will allow users faster, more efficient access to the complete storehouse of corporate data, no matter where it resides.

Fibre Channel will continue to acquire intelligence through new generations of software designed to manage interactions among FC-attached devices. Users won't be required to navigate the system. Users will simply request information, and management software will route the request to the appropriate storage device.

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