Features - Storage Innovations:

FalconStor SHIPS SOLUTION FOR WINDOWS STORAGE SERVER 2003

FalconStor Software Inc, a leading developer of network storage infrastructure software, announced availability of iSCSI Storage Server, powered by IPStor, the first fully-featured, seamlessly integrated solution designed specifically for the Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 platform. The iSCSI Storage Server software will be made available via providers of Windows Storage Server 2003-based devices.

The iSCSI Storage Server leverages FalconStor's award winning IPStor enterprise level software, and is designed specifically to transform the Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 into a unified storage platform, providing both file and block level services. The iSCSI Storage Server addresses the needs of SMB/departmental customers seeking to centralize and consolidate their storage, improve availability, consolidate backup and provide offsite replication. The iSCSI Storage Server also includes support for Microsoft's Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). Organizations that have been unable to move to a Fibre Channel SAN due to cost or complexity issues will now be able to consolidate storage for Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle and other application servers.

Texas Tech University selected the iSCSI Storage Server on a Dell PowerVault 775N cluster to consolidate storage onto an iSCSI SAN for many of the school's Web servers and departmental applications. "FalconStor has intelligently leveraged Microsoft technology, and has enabled us to establish portability and enhance backup capabilities and reliability for our Web server farms and departmental Web-based applications using the iSCSI Storage Server," said Dustin Jordan, manager of Server Administration for Texas Tech University. "The synergy between the Microsoft and FalconStor products will allow us to take full advantage of breakthrough capabilities that will enable us to manage our data stores more effectively. During this time of tight budget constraints, the iSCSI Storage Server will provide a flexible mechanism for meeting the storage needs of student, facility and staff applications with very little time, money and effort."

"Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 is already a leading NAS solution for the SMB customer, and we have seen encouraging adoption of the Microsoft iSCSI architecture, VSS and Microsoft MPIO for Exchange and SQL users to improve their storage management," stated Marcus Schmidt, senior product manager at Microsoft Corp. "Microsoft is pleased to be working with FalconStor to enable affordable storage solutions based on Windows Storage Server 2003 and the Windows platform."

In addition to centralized disk capacity provisioning, the iSCSI Storage Server enables Windows Storage Server 2003 to offer SAN-based snapshot, delta replication and zero-impact backup and restore services to application hosts attached to an IP/iSCSI network. To optimize system availability and business productivity, the iSCSI Storage Server also offers mirroring and cluster services, which enable continuous operation during a planned or unplanned outage.

"Initial customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, especially from users who are still tied to DAS and were deterred from deploying SANs due to affordability, usability and ease of installation issues," stated FalconStor CEO and chairman ReiJane Huai. "We look forward to expanding our relationships with Windows Storage Server 2003 OEM partners to bring this solution to the global market."

"SMBs and field offices of large organizations require solutions that provide optimum price/performance for their NAS and iSCSI storage environments. Though budget conscious, these customers don't want to sacrifice critical storage attributes such as business continuity and disaster recovery planning," said Michael Karp, senior analyst with Enterprise Management Associates. "FalconStor's iSCSI Storage Server delivers high availability and business continuity in networks leveraging Microsoft solutions such as Exchange, SQL Server and Windows Storage Server 2003."

To ensure rapid, simple deployment with minimal operating cost, the management console of the iSCSI Storage Server uses the built-in Web User Interface of Windows Storage Server 2003. Supported iSCSI initiators include the Microsoft software initiators for Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. The company is planning to release a FalconStor-developed DSM for Microsoft's Multi-path I/O (MPIO) in the near future.