Microsoft, Hitachi Data Systems and McDATA Introduce Trusted Solution Platform for Enterprise High-Availability Solutions at Enterprise 2000 Launch

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 26, 2000 — Today at Microsoft Corp.’s Enterprise 2000 Launch, Microsoft, Hitachi Data Systems and McDATA Corp. introduced Trusted Solution Platform (TSP), a packaged combination of hardware, software, services and support jointly developed by the three companies. TSP is designed to deliver high availability, enhanced scalability and reduced total cost of ownership for customers running current and future versions of Microsoft® Exchange and SQL Server™ applications in a Windows® 2000 Advanced Server environment. TSP offers a pretested environment that is qualified and supported by Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS), providing high-performance Storage Area Network (SAN)-based solution platforms for Exchange and SQL Server applications.

“As Microsoft and our associates share our vision for the new enterprise today at the Enterprise 2000 Launch, TSP underscores our commitment to provide enterprise customers with the technology and services to run mission-critical applications today and well into the future,”
said Steve Ballmer, president and CEO of Microsoft.
“Working together, Hitachi Data Systems, McDATA and Microsoft’s Product Support Services are able to provide customers with a rock-solid enterprise service offering today and a road map for building the new enterprise of tomorrow.”

With the emergence of e-mail, messaging and databases as mission-critical applications, enterprise customers increasingly need the highest levels of reliability, availability and scalability. By combining the expertise of Hitachi Data Systems and McDATA in storage infrastructure and SAN technologies with comprehensive support services and subject-matter expertise from Microsoft, TSP provides customers with an extremely robust, high-availability enterprise solution and value-added services. These services ensure availability levels, ease of growth, decreased backup times and improved administration for customers relying on Exchange and SQL Server. The relationship provides cutting-edge leadership in today’s application environment and is a clear indication of Microsoft, Hitachi Data Systems and McDATA’s commitment to enterprise customers.

TSP results in greatly improved productivity of system administrators through server and storage consolidation throughout the enterprise. It is benchmarked at a minimum of 5,000 users for Exchange with RAID 5 (Redundant Array of Independent Discs) and at least 280 GB of backup capacity per hour for SQL Server. TSP will link Windows 2000 Advanced Server Edition clusters with Hitachi’s Freedom Storage Lightning 9900 subsystem and McDATA’s ED-5000 enterprise-class Director. Hitachi Data Systems and McDATA products provide the industry’s highest levels of availability, performance and scalability, allowing customers to expand their TSP infrastructures smoothly, economically and with minimal disruption.

A variety of professional services from each of the companies, including assessments of customer environments and implementation of solutions, is part of the TSP platform. All elements of TSP are tested and qualified for interoperability and scalability. High-availability solution centers operated at Microsoft, Hitachi Data Systems and McDATA facilities are available for customers for observation of preconfigured solutions and testing of customized environments. Representatives of all three companies are able to offer TSP to customers. TSP is available immediately.

“Microsoft is now delivering a solution that meets the mission-critical demands of enterprise environments,”
said Carolyn DiCenzo, chief analyst of Storage Software Management at Dataquest.
“TSP represents Microsoft’s commitment to work with established, datacenter-proven associates like Hitachi Data Systems and McDATA to provide high-availability solutions for enterprise customers that are fully tested and supported for individual IT environments.”

The Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) model was used as a basis for the TSP. Microsoft Consulting Services has teamed with PSS on the development of TSP services using MOF processes and guidelines to develop specifications for the implementation of a SAN that ensure supportability. The Microsoft Operations Framework provides comprehensive technical guidance for achieving mission-critical system reliability, availability, supportability, and manageability on Microsoft’s products and technologies.

As a building block of .NET, TSP is a solution that allows for anytime, anywhere accessibility.

About Hitachi Data Systems

Committed to helping customers exploit the value of information technology for success in the Internet economy, Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), is a leading provider of business solutions for the world’s most information-intensive corporations. Further information on Hitachi Data Systems is available at http://www.hds.com/ .

About McDATA

McDATA (Nasdaq: MCDT) provides highly available, scalable and centrally

managed SAN solutions that truly address enterprisewide storage problems. Leading the market with industry-defining director-class switches, McDATA’s end-to-end SAN solutions improve the reliability and availability of data, greatly simplify SAN management and reduce the total cost of ownership. These extensively pretested SAN solutions provide IT organizations with the comprehensive tools, methodologies and support essential to robust SAN implementation. McDATA distributes its products through its OEMs, network of resellers and Elite Solution Partners. More information on McDATA is available at http://www.mcdata.com/ .

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software – any time, any place and on any device.

Trusted Solution Platform


Analyst Quotes



September 2000

“For companies with an extensive reliance on Exchange and Microsoft® SQL Server™ -based applications, TSP meets an urgent requirement for enterprise-class high availability.”

– Carl Greiner
Vice President and Director
Enterprise Data Center Strategies
META Group Inc.

“Microsoft Corp. is now delivering a solution that meets the mission-critical demands of enterprise environments. TSP represents Microsoft’s commitment to work with established, datacenter-proven associates like Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) and McDATA Corp. to provide high-availability solutions for enterprise customers that are fully tested and supported for individual IT environments.”

– Carolyn DiCenzo
Chief Analyst
Storage Software Management
Dataquest Inc.

“Microsoft needed enterprise-class partners to deliver enterprise-class availability for Exchange and SQL Server-based applications. McDATA and HDS understand the needs of the enterprise, because they’ve lived in the datacenter, and the datacenter is the heartbeat of today’s technology-enabled company.”

– John McArthur
Vice President
Storage Research
International Data Corp. (IDC)

“Microsoft and its partners are listening to their customers. The timing is right for a high-availability solution for Exchange and SQL Server. Large organizations with hundreds of thousands of Exchange users are ready to step up to a more scalable, more robust environment. Microsoft, Hitachi Data Systems and McDATA propose to deliver aspirin for their customers’ IT headaches.”

– Dan Tanner
Senior Analyst
Storage and Storage Management
Aberdeen Group Inc.

“The TSP announcement is a big step for Microsoft. With large enterprises having as many as 500,000 Exchange users, the need for a powerful, high-availability storage solution has never been greater. Partnering with quality vendors such as Hitachi Data Systems and McDATA, Microsoft presents an industrial-strength offering designed to reduce TCO and improve scalability in Windows® 2000 environments.”

– David Hill
Research Director
Storage and Storage Management
Aberdeen Group

“The bottom line is that SQL Server and Exchange are absolutely mission-critical applications. This relationship takes the necessary steps to move these apps from the midtier to the very highest caliber datacenter. This is a mainframe-class, bulletproof infrastructure for mainstream applications.”

– Steve Duplessie
Senior Analyst
The Enterprise Storage Group Inc.

“Microsoft is now ready to take on the enterprise. By partnering with datacenter-proven vendors like Hitachi Data Systems and McDATA, Microsoft has delivered an enterprise-class, datacenter-ready storage solution that meets the high-availability demands of the world’s largest users of Exchange and SQL Server, enabling them to take full advantage of Windows 2000 Advanced Server environments.”

– Jack Scott
Managing Partner
Evaluator Group Inc.

“This is the first time Microsoft is stepping up to the plate for the enterprise storage customer. The company’s ability to team up with enterprise-class ‘big iron’ vendors like Hitachi Data Systems and McDATA to develop a scalable and highly available storage solution for Exchange and SQL Server demonstrates a serious focus by Microsoft on enterprise computing.”

– John Webster
Senior Analyst and IT Adviser
Illuminata Inc.

“This three-way relationship brings a solution to bear that resolves a specific operating pain in and beyond the enterprise. As these systems have become central business operations, a new manner of architecting highly reliable solutions has become necessary. TPS is such a solution.”

– William P. Hurley
Program Manager
E-Networks and Broadband Access
The Yankee Group

“The TSP offering will bring much-needed high availability to large enterprises running Microsoft Exchange or SQL Server in a Windows 2000 Advanced Server environment. With this offering, Microsoft and its partners have paid close attention to the customers’ need for a quality solution. Bravo!”

– Mike Kahn
Chairman
The Clipper Group Inc.

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