Compaq StorageWorks reaches across the globe to demonstrate breakthrough storage networking technology

Compaq Computer Corporation announced today that it has achieved an IT industry milestone with the construction and showcase demonstration of the world`s first global storage network using Internet and Fibre Channel technologies.

The global storage network links Fibre Channel storage area networks (SANs) in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Sydney, Australia; and Nijmegen in the Netherlands, and clearly demonstrates the capability of a StorageWorks solution to manage and replicate data within a global enterprise.

"By exploiting Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP) technology, Compaq has taken global storage solutions to the next level," said Mark Lewis, vice president and general manager, Compaq Enterprise Storage Group. "The demonstration confirms that we`re anticipating our customers` evolving needs, and that we are hard at work developing solutions to help them use their existing IT infrastructures to gain competitive advantage in the years to come."

The demonstration of storage networking between continents using FCIP technology represents in real terms the Global Replication Network defined in the Compaq ENSA-2 vision presented last month. Using a simple text file, the demonstration proved that SANworks storage network management can query SAN-connected devices situated across continents and replicate data using SANworks Data Replication Manager. By validating the complementary nature of Fibre Channel and IP technologies, Compaq extends the ENSA storage utility to global proportions.

Compaq demonstrated the global technology showcase during the opening of its Enterprise Storage Centre in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, on 12 September. For more information on the StorageWorks global storage network and ENSA storage utility, please see release: http://www.compaq.com/newsroom/pr/2001/pr2001081401.html

Compaq partner CNT, a global specialist in storage networking, contributed to the solution with its expertise and UltraNet Edge Storage Router. The router connected Fibre Channel SANs on the three continents together using IP technology. "The Compaq technology demonstration proves that the UltraNet Edge Storage Router enables storage applications using FCIP. It shows how data can be managed over any distance - in campus, metropolitan and wide-area environments - while retaining data integrity and high network performance," said Nick Ganio, Group VP Sales, Marketing and Services, CNT.

Enterprises with a global presence require a data management infrastructure that can span their entire operations, yet can be managed from any location at any time. Global storage networks enable customers to use their information, manage it easily and put it to work wherever they need it.

"This achievement is as significant for global data management as the Internet was for networking servers and PCs. Besides making global data management a reality, we have shown how it can be accomplished without the need to build a new infrastructure," said Lewis.

Compaq`s technological advance will provide the basis for tomorrow`s leading data management applications. It will allow multiple copies of data to be processed in different cities through a global storage network. The innovation will allow customers to distribute and update copies of their data for use by employees, customers and e-business partners anywhere, anytime.