Also Introduces Support for MPIO Features in Microsoft iSCSI Initiator to Deliver New Levels of IP SAN Fault Tolerance
QLOGIC FUSION CONFERENCE/DALLAS – May 22, 2006 – StoneFly™, Inc., a leading supplier of integrated IP storage area network (SAN) systems and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dynamic Network Factory, Inc. (DNF), today announced a new strategy to provide OEM and embedded systems partners with access to the award-winning StoneFly StoneFusion® Intelligent Network Storage Platform (NSP), the company’s IP-based block-level provisioning software that centralizes storage management, control and monitoring of logical storage volumes for iSCSI SANs. StoneFly also introduced key enhancements to StoneFusion NSP in a new release that provides support for Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) features in Microsoft’s iSCSI Initiator Versions 2.0 and 2.01 to deliver new levels of IP SAN fault tolerance.
StoneFusion NSP reduces the total cost of ownership for IP SANs by lowering management costs and increasing storage utilization. Delivering block-level storage intelligence to the IP networking core, StoneFusion NSP allows increased storage utilization through storage consoli¬dation, feature-rich managed storage capa¬bilities, rapid deployment of new storage and SAN-based backup capabilities. When combined with storage network infrastructure solutions such as QLogic SANblade™ switches, StoneFusion NSP can bridge Fibre Channel SANs to IP SANs, providing added scalability for larger storage deployments.
Until now, StoneFusion has only been available as an integrated part of StoneFly IP SAN systems. According to Mo Tahmasebi, CEO of DNF, StoneFusion NSP now supports a variety of hardware platforms and embedded systems, making it ideal for OEMs and other partners interested in creating their own robust, highly customized IP SAN solutions. “StoneFusion has played an integral role in StoneFly’s pioneering efforts in the iSCSI storage arena, delivering years of unparalleled stability and performance to our IP SAN product lines,” said Tahmasebi. “By making StoneFusion available to OEMs and other partners, we are facilitating the overall advancement of iSCSI SANs while extending our reach in the market.”
Although StoneFly has offered compatibility with Microsoft’s iSCSI Initiator 2.0 since it was released last year, the new StoneFusion 4.3 release supports Microsoft MPIO capabilities to enable Windows servers to achieve a level of fault tolerance with IP SANs that was once reserved only for higher end Fibre Channel SANs. With MPIO support, Windows Servers can use more than one path to read and write to a StoneFly IP SAN storage device, resulting in improvements in resiliency, load balancing and system performance. The new StoneFusion NSP release also now enables all StoneFly Storage Concentrators to accept logical unit numbers (LUNs) up to 16 TB and create volumes up to 16 TB.
StoneFly StoneFusion NSP pricing starts at $5,250.00 for OEM Partners and includes full support for failover clustering as well as StoneFly Snapshot™ for advanced data recovery and StoneFly Reflection™ for synchronous mirroring.
About QLogic Fusion
QLogic Fusion is a channel-focused event that “fuses” industry peers and ecosystem partners in a relaxed resort environment, while providing valuable networking opportunities, smart strategies for next-generation solutions architecture, technical training and a 34,000-square-foot exhibit hall packed with products, partners and business sessions.
About StoneFly, Inc. and Dynamic Network Factory, Inc.
StoneFly, Inc., headquartered in San Diego, was founded in April 2000 to deliver upon the vision of simple and affordable storage optimization and disaster recovery protection through IP SAN solutions. StoneFly is a subsidiary of Dynamic Network Factory, Inc. (DNF), a leading maker of high-performance network attached storage, storage area networks, RAID and iSCSI systems. For more information on StoneFly, please visitwww.stonefly.com or www.iscsi.com .
Founded in 1989, DNF is a privately held company based in the Silicon Valley (Hayward, Ca.). DNF carries a variety of products, ranging from network attached storage, direct attached storage and IP SAN solutions, to assist companies in meeting their mission-critical storage needs with cost-effective, high performance storage equipment. DNF has more than 20,000 customers ranging from consumers and small-to-medium businesses to government agencies, universities, hospitals, financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies. Key customers include UC Berkeley, MIT, the Federal Aviation Administration, FBI, Lockheed Martin, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Fujitsu, Honda Corporation of America, SBC, BAE Systems, and General Dynamics. For more information, visit www.DNFstorage.com .
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StoneFly, StoneFusion, StoneFly Reflection, StoneFly Snapshot and Storage Concentrator are trademarks or registered trademarks and the property of StoneFly, Inc. All other company and product names contained herein are property of their respective owners.