DIGITAL INTRODUCES StorageWorks RAID ARRAY 230

New High Performance, High Availability PCI-Based RAID Subsystem for PC
Networks

MAYNARD, Mass. -- July 11, 1995 -- Digital Equipment Corporation today
announced the StorageWorks RAID Array 230, the industry's fastest, most
flexible storage solution for Intel PCI-based systems. The StorageWorks
RAID Array 230, a competitively-priced RAID solution for PC networks,
utilizes PCI bus technology to help users overcome system performance
bottlenecks and gain rapid access to critical data.

Incorporating Digital's modular StorageWorks architecture, the RAID Array
230 is easily expandable to meet growing capacity, performance and
availability requirements. Designed for Intel systems running Novell
NetWare 3.12/4.1 or Microsoft Windows NT V3.5, the StorageWorks RAID Array
230 is similar in functionality to the EISA-SCSI-based RAID Array 210. The
subsystem allows users to mix and match drive types and tailor the
subsystem to their specific performance and fault tolerance needs by
providing user-selectable RAID levels.

With continuous increases in server processor speeds, storage access has
the potential to become a system bottleneck," said Paul Feresten, vice
president of sales and marketing for Digital's Storage Business Unit. "By
incorporating new bus standards and technologies, such as PCI, into RAID
subsystems, we solve that problem by providing products that deliver fast
throughput and high availability.

In addition, by offering both EISA and PCI backplane RAID controllers
supported on any industry standard Intel server, Digital's StorageWorks
products offer unmatched flexibility to meet a range of users' needs."

The University of Wyoming, Cheyenne, Wyoming, an organization that has
successfully used the StorageWorks RAID Array 210, now has plans to
install RAID Array 230 subsystems with 48 GB of storage. "We acquired
fifteen RAID Array 210 subsystems to provide uninterrupted service to
users who pay to use the university's computing resources," stated Lynn
Lawton, systems programmer. "Along with fault tolerance features for data
reliability, the RAID Array 230 will provide us with even greater speed
and performance, particularly with the PCI backplane, all at an attractive
price. Initially equipped with 15 to 20 megabytes of storage capacity per
student, the 230 will accommodate about one-third of our 10,000 students.
And, if demand exceeds supply, it's easy to expand."

"Since its introduction last July, the RAID Array 210 has successfully met
the need for EISA-based storage solutions for the growing number of
companies installing Windows NT, as well as for the large base of Novell
NetWare users," said Bruce Baird, PC networks marketing manager for
Digital's Storage Business Unit. "Now, with the integration of a PCI
backplane, the RAID Array 230 offers a complete, cost-effective storage
solution for those who want the unsurpassed performance and data
availability of PCI.

In addition, support for multiple RAID levels allows optimized flexibility
in running the system to meet specific application and business needs."

StorageWorks RAID Array 230

The StorageWorks RAID Array 230, a hardware-based disk array, provides
expandable, cost-effective storage for RAID levels 0, 1, 0+1, 5, and JBOD
(just a bunch of disks), and supports both 8-bit and 16-bit drives. With a
4MB FastCache (expandable to 32MB), the array is optimized for fast
read-write operations. The RAID Array 230 provides continuous access to
data via automatic, unattended rebuilds and hot spare/hot swap disk drive
configurations. In addition, the RAID Array 230 offers extended fault
tolerance with redundant power supplies and cooling fans.

The controller-based RAID array features throughput of up to 2,679 I/Os per
second and bandwidth of up to 17.8MBs per second. In a standard
configuration, the product comes equipped with three 1.05GB or 2.1GB
16-bit wide disks with room for three additional disk drives in the same
enclosure. Additional performance features include a user-selectable
write-back cache, resulting in faster execution time; data striping,
allowing users to boost request or data transfer rate; and tag command
queuing, allowing each drive to process multiple commands simultaneously.

Pricing and Availability

The StorageWorks RAID Array 230 Subsystem is priced starting at $6,935 and
consists of a StorageWorks PCI backplane hardware RAID controller, RAID
configuration and management utilities software, redundant power supplies,
and three 1.05 GB disk drives with the appropriate cables and enclosure.
The product is available today from select value-added resellers (VARs),
wholesale distributors and systems integrators. The RAID Array 230 is
backed by an industry-leading warranty, including a five-year warranty on
disks and a three-year controller and packaging warranty. For more
information about Digital's complete line of StorageWorks products, call
1-800-STORWORK (1-800-786-7967).

The StorageWorks product line is a comprehensive family of disk, tape, and
optical storage subsystems, offering modular, competitively-priced,
industry-standard solutions in customizable desktop, deskside,
departmental, and datacenter enclosures. StorageWorks products are
available on multiple operating systems and hardware platforms, including
Digital workstations, systems and servers; Novell and Windows NT
environments; and Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Sun workstations and servers.

Digital Equipment Corporation is the world's leader in open client/server
solutions from personal computing to integrated worldwide information
systems. Digital's scalable Alpha platforms, storage, networking, software
and services, together with industry- focused solutions from business
partners, help organizations compete and win in today's global
marketplace.
 
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