Bell Microproducts' Hammer Storage division releases family of scalable Storage-over-IP solutions based on Z-SAN
Hammer's new Z-Series Network Storage Line Ideal for Small to Medium Businesses and Corporate Workgroups
SAN JOSE, Calif., March 27, 2006
Hammer Storage, a division of Bell Microproducts, Inc. (NASDAQ: BELM), today launched a new line of network storage that incorporates Zetera Corporation's Z-SAN Storage-over-IP (SoIP) technology. Hammer's Z-Series product family, which includes desktop and 1U rackmount enclosures for business users, moves Hammer Storage solidly into the business network storage space.
The Hammer Z-Series solutions are enabled by Zetera's widely-acclaimed Z-SAN technology, the only technology available to deliver on the vision of SoIP. SoIP uses Internetworking Protocol (IP) as the only storage fabric, eliminating the need for costly controllers, dedicated switches and RAID controllers that also serve as performance bottlenecks.
Building on the retail success of the Hammer Storage brand, Bell has expanded the Hammer line to the business market by adding Zetera's Z-SAN SoIP technology to create the Hammer Z-Series line. "Hammer's Z-Series is the future of network storage," said Jerry Kagele, Executive Vice President, Computer Products at Bell. "We have teamed with Zetera to deliver game-changing storage solutions that change the way IT managers purchase and implement network storage."
The opportunity exists for solution providers to take advantage of an enormous gap and solve real business issues. "Today's businesses need storage that is faster, more scalable, easier to manage and less expensive," added Kagele. "Z-SAN is the only storage architecture that delivers on all of these factors simultaneously, allowing Hammer to be the first to provide exactly what the market demands."
The first Hammer Z-Series solutions will include the Z-Box desktop and the Z-Rack 1U rackmount solutions with capacities of up to two terabytes per device. The desktop delivers a superior price/performance advantage over competing desktop 4-bay NAS products. The 1U rackmount competes with rackmount NAS and entry-level SAN solutions by providing better performance, scalability and reliability at a very attractive price point.
The Hammer Z-Series offers several exclusive features unavailable through competing products:
- Eliminates need for and cost of specialized hardware like Fibre Channel switches, host-bus adapters, TCP offload engines and RAID controllers
- Aggregates for capacity up to 128 PB per volume across multiple enclosures
- Aggregates for performance of 10+ GB/sec across multiple enclosures
- Distributed RAID delivers hardware RAID functionality and the ability to extend RAID volumes across physical enclosures
- Multi-initiator file system delivers NAS-like file and volume sharing on a block-based device
- Z-SAN technology from Zetera simultaneously optimizes on performance, scalability, reliability and cost
Other Hammer Z-Series features include:
- Supports up to four (4) SATA-1 or SATA-2 disk drives
- Supports capacities up to 2 terabytes, configured to order
- Gigabit Ethernet network interface
- Optimized performance up to 80 MB/sec per enclosure
- Compact Z-Box desktop or industry-standard Z-Rack 1U rackmount form factor
- Compatibility with Windows® 2000, Windows® XP, Windows® 2003 and Redhat Linux 4 (available Q2)
- Includes Hammer Personal Storage Manager software suite
Hammer's Z-Series solutions are available for order with worldwide delivery scheduled in April. Prices for one (1) terabyte desktop and 1U rackmount solutions start at $1,299 and $3,999, respectively.
Compatible with any IP network, the Hammer Z-Series is the most versatile network storage solution available from any vendor, and is backed by an industry-standard one-year warranty.
"Our storage architecture is one of those rare technology breakthroughs that is superior in every dimension to its predecessors," said Zetera CEO Chuck Cortright. "Z-SAN enables Hammer network storage devices to perform better, scale more fluidly and provide superior virtualization to what is available from today's more costly NAS and SAN devices, all at a competitive price point."
The Hammer Z-Series will include solutions offering greater than 9TB capacity later in 2006.
About Bell Microproducts Inc.
Bell Microproducts is an international, value-added provider of a wide range of high-technology products, solutions, and services to the industrial and commercial markets. The company's offering includes semiconductors, computer platforms, peripherals, and storage products of various types including desktop, high-end computer and storage subsystems, fibre channel connectivity products, RAID, NAS and SAN storage systems, back-up products, storage management software, and extensive support, integration and installation services. Bell Microproducts is an industry-recognized specialist in storage products and is one of the world's largest storage-centric value-added distributors.
The company's products are available at any level of integration, from components to subsystem assemblies and fully-integrated, tested and certified system solutions. The company adds value with a broad range of services including testing, software loading, kitting, mass storage system integration, and computer system integration. Trained and certified technical personnel complete each of these processes at Bell Microproducts' ISO 9001:2000 facilities. Bell Microproducts markets and distributes more than 125 brand name product lines, as well as its own Rorke Data and Hammer Storage brands, to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), contract electronic manufacturing services (EMS) customers, value-added resellers (VARs) and system integrators in the Americas and Europe. More information can be found in the company's SEC filings, or by visiting the Bell Microproducts Web site at www.bellmicro.com. For more information on Hammer Storage, please call 1-888-444-9977.
About Zetera Corporation
Founded in 2002, Zetera Corporation is a developer of a patent-pending technology that enables networked storage to be realized at unprecedented price-performance levels. The technology was invented by the creators of the IDE and ATAPI disk drive standards, which have shipped in billions of disk drives. Leveraging the latest IP advances, Zetera has created a new class of network storage technology that is superior in performance, cost, scalability and compatibility to all other types of network storage. Based in Irvine, Calif., Zetera licenses its technology to leading storage, computer, peripheral and device manufacturers worldwide, including Bell Microproducts and Netgear. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.zetera.com.
Safe Harbor Statement for Bell Microproducts: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, which reflect the Company's current views of future events and financial performance, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results or facts to differ materially from such statements for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to: the ability to successfully integrate the operations of recent acquisitions, industry conditions, changes in product supply, pricing, and customer demand, competition, other vagaries in the computer and electronic components markets, changes in relationships with key suppliers, foreign currency fluctuations and the other risks described from time to time in the Company's reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission (including the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K). Investors should take such risks into account when making investment decisions. Shareholders and other readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. The company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements.