New 5.0 Release of StoneFusion IP SAN Platform Optimizes Load Balancing, Supports Volume Shadow Copy Service and Cell Phone and Text Message Notifications
San Diego – August 21, 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 introduced a major new release of its StoneFusion™ Intelligent Network Storage Platform (NSP) that sets new standards for advanced data protection and availability for cost-effective IP SANs.
Available as an integrated part of the award-winning StoneFly Storage Concentrator™ IP SAN product line, StoneFusion 5.0 delivers active/active failover clustering as well as support for Windows Server 2003 Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). In addition, it now provides cell phone and text message notifications to allow busy IT managers to track system performance while on the go.
According to Mo Tahmasebi, CEO of DNF, today’s announcement underscores StoneFly’s commitment to building IP SANs that are not only affordable, but also full-featured and easy to manage. “StoneFly continues to pioneer the iSCSI SAN market, with offerings such as StoneFusion 5.0 that lower the entry barriers to robust business continuity while easing the task of IP SAN management for busy IT managers,” he said.
StoneFusion NSP is IP-based block-level provisioning software that centralizes storage management, control and monitoring of logical storage volumes for StoneFly iSCSI SANs, reducing the total cost of ownership by lowering management costs and increasing storage utilization. With active-active functionality, StoneFusion enables end user organizations to improve IP SAN bandwidth by balancing traffic across two Storage Concentrators installed in a clustered pair configuration. Most importantly, in the event of a failure on one Storage Concentrator, the remaining active system takes over as the primary device and handles all traffic to eliminate any risk of IP SAN system downtime.
VSS is a core component of Windows Server 2003 that provides data snapshots and point-in-time copies of volumes, resulting in optimized data recovery for iSCSI SANs. VSS quiesces applications for a fraction of a second to take the data snapshot, ensuring minimal interruptions to active volumes used by the host operating system. With StoneFusion 5.0 support for VSS, StoneFly Storage Concentrators can now take snapshots without impact on servers running Windows Server 2003, Exchange or SQL.
Earlier this year, StoneFly announced its new Integrated Storage Concentrator, which supports up to 18TB of storage in a single chassis to become the highest capacity IP SAN solution in a single enclosure or chassis. Effective immediately, the Integrated Storage Concentrators now support 750GB hard drives to accommodate customers’ escalating storage requirements.
StoneFusion 5.0 is now shipping with all new StoneFly Storage Concentrators and is available as an optional upgrade for previously deployed systems. Prices start at less than US$12,000 for a complete cluster configuration featuring two Storage Concentrators and StoneFusion NSP. VSS support is host-based and is therefore licensed separately from StoneFusion for a minimal per server charge.
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, Dynamic Network Factory, Inc. (DNF) is a privately-held company based in the Silicon Valley (Hayward, Ca.). DNF carries a variety of products to assist companies in meeting their mission-critical storage needs with cost-effective, high performance solutions. DNF started as a U.S. subsidiary of the publicly-traded Japanese IT conglomerate, CSK Electronics, in 1989. In 1998, the company refined its strategy and began to focus the hardware group on storage solutions. Within a year, DNF’s rapid growth resulted in its emergence as an independent, privately held spin-off. In 2006, DNF completed its acquisition of StoneFly Networks, an iSCSI storage pioneer and developer of complete, turnkey IP SAN solutions. Now a wholly owned subsidiary of DNF Corporation, StoneFly, Inc. is headquartered in San Diego.
Since its inception, DNF has designed custom solutions for organizations of all sizes and built products for many major computer manufacturers. 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.