Features - Storage Innovations:

EMC SETS NEW STANDARD FOR ENTERPRISE ARCHIVING

EMC Corp further expanded the capabilities of EMC Centera content addressed storage (CAS) with new functionality that allows customers to securely archive virtually any data type from any application running on any open platform. The expanded versatility of Centera makes it the most open and easy-to-deploy enterprise archive solution, setting a new standard for information archiving.

Through a new version of Centera Universal Access software and Centera's open application programming interface (API), customers can archive data from open systems and mainframe applications that are integrated to the API, or from applications running on Windows, Unix or Linux environments that use industry-standard protocols.

The new Centera Universal Access Version 2.1 now natively provides support for all four of the major industry-standard protocols:

• Network File System (NFS) including IBM iSeries via Integrated File System (IFS) using NFS.
• Common Internet File System (CIFS).
• File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
• Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

Centera is also able to archive data from mainframe applications not integrated to the Centera API through Bus-Tech Inc's Mainframe Appliance for Storage (MAS) for Centera, which provides access to Centera via Enterprise Systems Connection (ESCON) or Fibre Connection (FICON) connections. With the release of Centera Universal Access V2.1 and new FICON support by Bus-Tech MAS for Centera, customers with any combination of applications and platforms can use Centera as an enterprise archive and unlock the maximum value of their fixed content.

Raymond van den Berg, ICT director at Vlietland Ziekenhuis, a large hospital in the Netherlands, said, "EMC Centera Universal Access allows our Philips PACS solution, running without modification, to archive medical images to Centera. Being magnetic disk based, we retrieve archived images quickly and have saved two full-time staff equivalents because tape management has been eliminated. Centera is the enterprise archive platform for all of Vlietland Ziekenhuis."

Peter Gerr, senior analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group, said, "EMC Centera continues to set a high standard for storage platforms designed to handle the complex challenges of managing fixed content. EMC's latest enhancements to Centera Universal Access deliver more flexibility, openness, and ease of access than ever before. This makes Centera an excellent platform on which to standardize for enterprise archiving and further strengthens Centera's position as the industry benchmark for CAS solutions. "

Tom Heiser, senior vice president and general manager of EMC's Centera Division, said, "EMC Centera Universal Access allows customers to completely standardize on CAS with Centera for all enterprise archiving needs. EMC is demonstrating its commitment to bringing the benefits of CAS to every organization and business application. Our goal is for CAS and information lifecycle management (ILM) to help customers achieve maximum business value from their information with an IT infrastructure that is flexible, simple and easy to use."

About EMC

EMC Corp is a provider of information storage systems, software, networks and services, providing automated networked storage solutions to help organizations extract the maximum value from their information, at the lowest total cost, across every point in the information lifecycle. Information about EMC's products and services can be found at www.emc.com/.