Hitachi Data Systems Shines at Storage Networking World

Announces Storage Management Framework and High-Speed SAN Solution; Demonstrates Capabilities in Emerging Networking Technologies; Participates in "CTO Insights" Panel

Storage Networking World, ORLANDO, Florida, 22 October, 2001 — In a press conference at the Storage Networking World conference being held here this week, Hitachi Data Systems today announced HiCommand™, a software framework for simplifying the tasks performed by storage system administrators. It also announced availability of a new certified, end-to-end 2-gigabit per second Storage Area Network (SAN) solution.

In Storage Networking World's Interoperability Laboratory, Hitachi Data Systems joined with other companies to conduct demonstrations of its capabilities in emerging network technologies. Participation in these demonstrations underscores Hitachi Data Systems' "open networks" vision, by which it intends to offer solutions that support whichever technologies are likely to become attractive to customers.

Hitachi Data Systems' participation in the conference was also highlighted by the appearance of its Chief Technology Officer Hubert Yoshida on an elite panel of networking experts offering "CTO Insights."

Hosting the Hitachi Data Systems press conference, Yoshida said that HiCommand is designed to increase the productivity of storage administrators by as much as 10 to 20 times over currently available tools, substantially reducing the total cost of ownership. He also told attendees that the Application Program Interfaces for HiCommand will be made widely available to Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). To date, more than 30 ISVs have joined the HiCommand Developers Program intending to develop storage management tools to access Hitachi Data Systems storage equipment.

The new 2-Gbps SAN solution announced by Hitachi Data Systems incorporates Brocade's new Silkworm™ 3800 switch, also announced today. The entire solution, including a Hitachi Freedom Storage™ system, host bus adapters from Emulex, and the Brocade switch, is certified, supported, and sold by Hitachi Data Systems.

Storage Networking World's Interoperability Laboratory is the scene for Hitachi Data Systems participation in three demonstrations of advanced technology:

• The Hitachi Freedom StorageLightning 9900™, Hitachi Data Systems' flagship storage system, is being operated in a network demonstrating the capabilities of iSCSI technology for data-transfer operations over the Internet. iSCSI offers enterprises the possibility of using their existing Internet Protocol (IP) network management tools to build networks that are potentially less expensive to implement than Storage Area Networks (SANs) based on the currently popular Fibre Channel technology.
• The Lightning 9900 is also being operated in another network demonstrating how high availability can be achieved in a clustered-database application using virtualized storage.
• The simplicity and ease of use of the new HiCommand software is being demonstrated for conference attendees in the Interoperability Laboratory.

Hitachi Data Systems is a leading supplier of storage hardware, software, solutions and services. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), Japan's largest electronics company, HDS is committed to providing the technological infrastructure for the world's most information-intensive corporations.

With 2,900 employees, Hitachi Data Systems does business in the public and private sectors in 60 countries on six continents, including the rapidly emerging economies in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. Its customers include more than 50 percent of Fortune 100 companies, and all of the major Storage Service Providers (SSPs). For more information, please visit the company's Website at http://www.hds.com/.

Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 2000 (ended March 31, 2001) consolidated sales of 8,417 billion yen ($67.9 billion) The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at www.hitachi.com.

¹ At an exchange rate of 124 yen to the dollar.

Contacts: PR
Jodi Reinman, Hitachi Data Systems, (408) 970.1050, jodi.reinman@hds.com

Hitachi Data Systems is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd. HiCommand, Freedom Storage, Lightning 9900, Thunder 9200, and ShadowImage are trademarks of Hitachi Data Systems. VERITAS, VERITAS SOFTWARE, the VERITAS logo, and all other VERITAS product names and slogans are trademarks or registered trademarks of VERITAS Software Corporation in the USA and/or other countries. Other product names and/or slogans mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.