Tokyo, January 31, 2001 --- Compaq Computer K.K. and Fujitsu Limited today announced an agreement focusing on storage products and services and aimed at boosting their systems integration businesses in Japan. Under the agreement, Compaq and Fujitsu will supply each other with storage products and related services for the Japanese market and jointly promote standardization of SAN (Storage Area Network). The initiative will also enable the two companies to provide a more complete, broader range of solutions for their customers who require an Open SAN environment.
Compaq and Fujitsu will engage in technical cooperation in the SAN area through SNIA (*3) (The Storage Networking Industry Association) in order to accelerate the standardization of SAN. As a first step in jointly promoting the standardization of SAN, Fujitsu will endorse "VersaStorTM" (*1), Compaq's Open SAN (*2) core technology for next-generation virtual storage, and both companies will start investigating its usage for products related to Fujitsu's Storplex storage system architecture.
Overview of the agreement
- Cooperate with each other to promote their SI businesses in Japan:
- To cover new customer needs such as storage consolidation, both companies will supply each other's storage system hardware products and related software products and services.
- To enable the firms to supply each other's products, Compaq and Fujitsu will conduct joint testing and validation to ensure interconnectivity between their server and storage products. This will be done at the Storage Product Competency Center of Compaq's headquarters located at Tennozu, Tokyo and the "Interoperability Center (IOC)" of Fujitsu's Numazu Plant in Shizuoka. The two makers will also conduct testing and validation for their storage software products cooperatively.
- Promote the standardization of SAN:
- Both companies will conduct standardization work at SNIA in cooperation with engineers working for "Storage Networking Technology Center" (SNIA Laboratory) at Compaq's Enterprise Storage Customer Center in Colorado, and will place Fujitsu's "GR series" storage devices there for verification of interoperability.
- Fujitsu will endorse "VersaStor", Compaq's virtual storage technology. Both companies have already started investigating its deployment for Fujitsu storage-related products.
In December 1998, Compaq Computer Corporation led the industry by announcing its Storage System Vision called "ENSA" (Enterprise Network Storage Architecture) which greatly simplifies storage system work such as installation, operation and management. Based on that vision, Compaq Computer K.K. released "Open SAN" and related software "SANworksTM" and hardware "StorageWorksTM" in April 2000. Compaq Computer K.K. also announced "VersaStor" which is the core technology for Open SAN.
Compaq is the one of the world's leading makers in the SAN market and is working hard to introduce a true Open SAN environment, independent of storage vendors as well as server vendors.
In January 1999, Fujitsu announced "Storplex" (*4), its storage system architecture aimed at providing storage solutions for corporate information systems in today's Internet era. Based on this architecture, Fujitsu has been providing comprehensive SAN storage solutions that include Fujitsu's GR Series RAID systems, SystemWalker/StorageMGR software and related services for delivering continuous operation, data exchange and sharing among different type of servers, and integrated storage management.
As part of its growing focus on the storage business, Fujitsu newly created its File System Group in April, 2000, and this business unit will extend the company's product development and sales capabilities. Fujitsu has also been strengthening its overseas sales organization, which includes Fujitsu Technology Solutions in the U.S. and Fujitsu Siemens Computers in Europe.
[Notes]
(*1) VersaStor: was announced in June 2000, and is an innovative next-generation technology that makes Open SAN reality. VersaStor is a virtual storage pool technology which makes storage management much simpler and improves scalability, performance, and flexibility. To learn more, visit Compaq's press releases on the Compaq website.
(*2) Open SAN: is conceptually advanced SAN. This accommodates not only multi-vendor servers but also multi-vendor storage systems including RAID systems and tape libraries.
(*3) SNIA: was established in January 1998 as an organization to standardize SAN and promote its use. Membership now stands at more than 100 computer manufacturers, storage makers, software houses and distributors. Working groups are actively involved in many areas such as storage network management, backup systems, and file systems in order to define standard SAN specifications.
(*4) Storplex: is Fujitsu's concept of a storage system that is configured as a "complex" consisting of hardware, software and networks. It embodies the principles of flexible connectivity, dynamic scalability, continuous data access, and enterprise storage management.
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About Fujitsu
Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) is a leading provider of Internet- based information technology solutions for the global marketplace. Comprising over 500 group companies and affiliates worldwide -- including ICL, Amdahl and DMR Consulting -- it had consolidated revenues of 5.26 trillion yen ($49.6 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2000. Fujitsu's pace-setting technologies, world-class computing and telecommunications platforms, and global corps of over 60,000 systems and services experts make it uniquely positioned to unleash the infinite possibilities of the Internet to help its customers succeed. Altogether, the Fujitsu Group has 188,000 employees and operations in over 100 countries.
Internet: http://www.fujitsu.com/