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SCHENCK DEPLOYS EqualLogic iSCSI SOLUTION

EqualLogic Inc announced that Schenck Business Solutions has deployed multiple PS100E storage arrays to replace its Fibre Channel architecture within its storage area network (SAN). Having outgrown its Fibre Channel SAN, Schenck partnered with EqualLogic to create a dynamic enterprise-wide storage infrastructure providing on-demand storage provisioning for all applications and remote replication for data protection.

Schenck Business Solutions is a full-service regional accounting and consulting firm with 600 employees in 11 offices serving businesses and individual clients. In early 2004, Schenck overhauled its entire IT infrastructure, migrating to Microsoft Windows platforms, changing its wide area network and replacing its Fibre Channel SAN with EqualLogic's automated and self-managing iSCSI-based solution. Schenck wanted to support its business-critical operations with a storage platform that was easier to access and expand as needed, while providing integrated backup and recovery functionality.

Schenck is using EqualLogic's PS Series arrays to implement a disaster recovery plan and to give its employees on-demand access to business data even while out working in the field. After nearly a year in production, the EqualLogic PS arrays have become an integral component of Schenck's strategy within its data center, serving as the single pool of storage to which all servers are connected, allowing the company to create storage volumes as needed without disrupting operations. Since storage is now centralized on the SAN, all company data can be controlled and protected with sophisticated management features, full hardware redundancy and comprehensive backup procedures.

"The best part about using EqualLogic's PS Series arrays is that everything I need to create, manage and protect an enterprise SAN is included, allowing me to lay the foundation for a virtual data center that gives me incredible flexibility," said Jim Tarala, CIO and CTO of Schenck Business Solutions.

Schenck deployed two PS100E arrays as the core of its new all-Windows data center, running company-wide applications such as Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server, Citrix MetaFrame, SalesLogix customer relationship management, and a new Oracle-based medical billing solution. All the new Windows servers boot directly from the SAN, allowing Schenck to provision and re-provision servers on the fly. A third array was installed in the company's remote office in Green Bay for replication over the wide-area network (WAN) for secure and efficient data protection.

"Solutions that simplify storage while providing features that enhance and protect business operations are vital to IT," said John Joseph, vice president of marketing for EqualLogic. "Our customers are realizing that consolidated storage is now the central resource of the data center, and EqualLogic is dedicated to providing the technology to manage this resource intelligently and efficiently."

EqualLogic is the only standards-compliant IP SAN solution provider to offer a comprehensive and fully integrated standard feature set at no additional cost to the customer. Each PS Series storage array comes with fully redundant fault-tolerant hardware and includes full-featured automatic storagemanagement software. Multiple arrays can be combined to form a scalable enterprise storage grid of more than 100 TBs.

About EqualLogic

EqualLogic Inc is the leading provider of intelligent, all-inclusive iSCSI storage area network (SAN) solutions that enable businesses -- from Fortune 100 to small and mid-size organizations -- to realize the economic benefits of consolidated, self-managing storage. The EqualLogic PS Series of storage arrays, based on the company's patented peer storage architecture, is the industry's first automatic storage platform that delivers operational simplicity, functional integration and high data availability in a single, scalable pool of storage. EqualLogic's headquarters are located in Nashua, New Hampshire. For more information, please visit www.equallogic.com.