Special Section: SNW, Fall 2004 - Highlights From The SNW Floor:

DELL DEMOS AUTOMATIC DATA FAILOVER, RECOVERY ACROSS ATLANTIC

Customers visiting Dell's booth at Storage Networking World this week observed a demonstration of data failover and recovery from a site in Limerick, Ireland, to a site near Austin, Texas.

Using a Microsoft Exchange 2003 messaging solution, the Dell Business Continuity demonstration shows data being replicated in real time between two Dell/EMC mid-range storage systems separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Within minutes of an application failure in Limerick, asynchronous mirroring enables the recovery location in Central Texas to be running and fully processing transactions for a total solution cost of less than $300,000. This price point brings sophisticated business continuity solutions to mid-range customers.

This demonstration by Dell and its partners highlights the availability of advanced business continuity solutions to a broader range of customers through a technology called Asynchronous Data Replication.

Asynchronous Data Replication enables customers to mirror their data from site-to-site using IP (Internet Protocol) instead of costly Fibre Channel networks. Customers can choose disaster recovery sites that are farther away from the primary storage location, are less costly and provide greater security. This technology is now available on mid-range network storage systems commonly deployed in medium-sized organizations.

"Asynchronous technology is now a viable and affordable alternative for business continuity solutions in mid-sized organizations," said Darren Thomas, vice president and general manager of storage, Dell Product Group. "Just a year ago, this caliber of solution was available only to the largest customers. The platform in this demonstration is another proof point of Dell's commitment to make enterprise capabilities accessible to mainstream customers."