Industry Leaders Launch First Partner-Led Microsoft-Qualified Prescriptive Architecture Guides for Internet Data CentersBlueprints Designed to Support E-Business Applications With Highest Degree of Availability, Reliability, Scalability, and Manageability REDMOND, Wash., July 31, 2002 -- Avanade, Inc., Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., Dell, EMC Corporation, Emulex Corporation, Nortel Networks, and Unisys Corporation announced today the Internet Blueprint for the Microsoft Systems Architecture and the Internet Blueprint Plus for the Microsoft Systems Architecture. These are the first in a series of Microsoft Systems Architecture Qualified partner-led Prescriptive Architecture Guides (PAGs) by industry leaders designed to provide tested guidance to support enterprise customers looking to simplify core infrastructure implementations and reduce the time and cost associated with deployment of data center solutions built on the Windows 2000 Server platform. This solution is designed to deliver faster time to service with lower operational expense and better utilization of resources meeting the needs of customers looking for common operating environments, server and/or storage consolidation and migration to the latest technologies. Today Microsoft Corp. also announced the Microsoft Systems Architecture program, developed with the goal of architecting, validating, and documenting a set of IT infrastructure architectures that simplify deployment and management of storage to support Microsoft software-based applications. Industry leaders Avanade, Brocade, Dell, EMC, Emulex, Nortel Networks, and Unisys worked together to design, develop, and qualify these prescriptive blueprints in the EMC lab in Redmond, Wash. These Microsoft-qualified architectures are designed to deliver a complete, Web-enabled, IT infrastructure, including servers, storage, storage networking infrastructure, software, and other tools and scripts to support an extensive array of e-business applications with a high degree of availability, reliability, scalability, and manageability. To address the unique needs of Internet data centers running enterprise applications, the Internet Blueprints help provide enterprises the high availability and data security they need to meet service level agreements and run 24x7x365 operations. These configurations are designed to offer maximum information protection and scalability. The Internet Blueprint for Microsoft Systems Architecture is built to feature Dell PowerEdge servers and EMC CLARiiON(R) Enterprise Storage systems. The Internet Blueprint Plus for Microsoft Systems Architecture features Unisys ES7000 and EMC's Symmetrix(R) Enterprise Storage systems for highest levels of scalability and availability. "Microsoft, together with strategic industry partners, is focused on delivering integrated systems architecture that has been implemented, tested and proven to lower implementation risks, improve ROI and reduce time to market," said Cliff Reeves, vice president for the Windows .NET Product Management Group at Microsoft. "We are pleased to support these industry leaders in creating the first partner-led prescriptive guide to support the next generation of Internet-based business solutions." "Avanade has coupled its experiences helping customers deploy robust Enterprise Microsoft infrastructures with those of Microsoft and the other partners to create a solution that can be deployed rapidly and deliver predictable performance," said Mick Slattery, Vice President of Strategy for Avanade. "For companies migrating to the .NET platform, these solutions provide proven starting points at attractive price points designed to accelerate deployment and minimize risk." "Companies are implementing Brocade storage area networks as an intelligent platform to enable continuous access to business information, increase application performance, reduce total cost of ownership of storage environments, and deliver a flexible IT infrastructure that creates a competitive advantage. As data centers increasingly face the Internet and the customer, the requirement for a highly available environment for applications based on intelligent storage networking becomes critical," said Jeffrey Brooks, Brocade Chief Marketing Officer. "We are pleased to work with Microsoft and our strategic partners to accelerate the deployment of enterprise infrastructure to support today's business critical applications." "Dell collaborated with Microsoft and other leading industry partners on Microsoft Systems Architecture to create a 'best-practices' blueprint that customers can use to simplify and speed their data center implementations," said Peter Morowski, Vice President of Software Development, Dell Enterprise Systems Group. "Dell helped to architect the server infrastructure for this environment, and the inclusion of Dell PowerEdge Servers and Dell | EMC storage ensures a robust, reliable datacenter-ready solution." Don Swatik, Vice President of Global Alliances and Information Sciences at EMC said, "EMC has worked extensively with Microsoft and our partners to test and integrate EMC's information storage systems and software into these architectures. We provide our customers with reliable, cost effective alternatives to their mainframe and UNIX platforms. This close cooperation is fundamental in further establishing Windows computing infrastructures in enterprise environments." "Emulex's participation in the Microsoft Systems Architecture program reflects our commitment to working with strategic partners and industry leaders to deliver a solid set of prescriptive blueprints that will simplify deployment of Windows-based data center solutions, while reducing the time and cost associated with implementation," said Mike Smith, Emulex Executive Vice President of Worldwide Marketing. "As the world's leading supplier of storage networking host bus adapters, Emulex is pleased to provide the feature-rich connectivity solution that helps enable customers to simplify SAN management and lower total cost of ownership." "Nortel Networks is excited to bring our solutions to the Internet blueprint for the Microsoft Systems Architecture providing high availability, network efficiency, and data center security with extremely high performance via our Alteon*, Passport*, and Contivity* products. These qualified Internet Data Center Blueprints for Microsoft Systems Architecture bring together best-of-breed products that are pre-integrated and pre-tested and help our customers implement the most sophisticated Internet data center infrastructures faster and more reliably than before. Microsoft-qualified PAGs meet real-world needs while driving lower on going operational expenses and maximization of return on capital investment," said Robert Burke, Vice President of Enterprise Products and Marketing, Nortel Networks. "The Unisys Enterprise Server ES7000 addresses the needs of customers for highest levels of scalability and availability for the Internet Data Center," said Mark Feverston, Vice President of Enterprise Server Platforms, Unisys Corporation. "With its expandability to thirty-two processors, 64 Gigabytes of memory and sixty-four I/O channels, the Unisys ES7000 allows customers to deploy a broad array of customer relationship management, business intelligence or large scale data bases required in the Internet Data Center. In addition, Unisys heritage of providing service and support worldwide add a critical element to the success of any deployment of Microsoft Systems Architecture." About Avanade Avanade is the world's premier technology integrator for Microsoft solutions in the enterprise, delivering secure, reliable, scalable Microsoft-based solutions that help customers around the globe optimize their technology investments. Founded in April 2000 as a joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture, Avanade offers customers unique value based on a heritage of superior service and unmatched insight into cutting-edge Microsoft technologies. Additional information can be found at http://www.avanade.com/msa. About Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. Brocade offers the industry's leading intelligent platform for networking storage. The world's leading systems, applications, and storage vendors have selected Brocade to provide a networking foundation for their SAN solutions. The Brocade SilkWorm(R) family of fabric switches and software is designed to optimize data availability and storage and server resources in the enterprise. Using Brocade solutions, companies can simplify the implementation of storage area networks, reduce the total cost of ownership of data storage environments, and improve network and application efficiency. For more information, visit the Brocade website at http://www.brocade.com or contact the company at info@brocade.com. For more information on Brocade participation in the Microsoft Systems Architecture, visit http://www.brocade.com/msa. About Dell Dell Computer Corporation is a premier provider of products and services required for customers worldwide to build their information-technology and Internet infrastructures. The company's revenue for the past four quarters totaled $31.2 billion. Dell, through its direct business model, designs, manufactures and customizes products and services to customer requirements, and offers an extensive selection of software and peripherals. Information on Dell and its products can be obtained at http://www.dell.com. Information on Dell's participation in the Microsoft Systems Architecture can be found at http://www.dell.com/msa. About EMC EMC Corporation is the world leader in information storage systems, software, networks and services, providing the information infrastructure for a connected world. Information about EMC's products and services can be found at http://www.EMC.com. More information on EMC's participation in the Microsoft Systems Architecture can be found at http://www.emc.com/msa. About Emulex Corporation Emulex Corporation is a leading supplier and developer of storage networking host bus adapters based on both Fibre Channel and IP networking technologies. The Emulex HBA product families are based on internally developed ASIC, firmware and software technologies, and offer the world's leading server and storage suppliers a high performance, scalable and flexible connectivity solution, while reducing total cost of ownership. Corporate headquarters are located in Costa Mesa, California. News releases and other information about Emulex Corporation are available at http://www.emulex.com. About Nortel Networks Nortel Networks is an industry leader and innovator focused on transforming how the world communicates and exchanges information. The company is supplying its service provider and enterprise customers with communications technology and infrastructure to enable value-added IP data, voice and multimedia services spanning Metro and Enterprise Networks, Wireless Networks and Optical Networks. As a global company, Nortel Networks does business in more than 150 countries. More information about Nortel Networks can be found on the Web at http://www.nortelnetworks.com. About Unisys Corporation Unisys is a worldwide information technology services and solutions company. Our people combine expertise in systems integration, outsourcing, infrastructure, server technology and consulting with precision thinking and relentless execution to help clients, in more than 100 countries, quickly and efficiently achieve competitive advantage. For more information on Unisys participation in the Microsoft Systems Architecture visit http://www.unisys.com/datacenter/msa . NOTE: Brocade, the B weave logo and SilkWorm are registered trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States or in other countries. All other brands, products, or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of, and are used to identify, products or services of their respective owners. All products, plans, and dates are subject to change without notice. *Nortel Networks, Alteon, Passport, Contivity, the Nortel Networks logo and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel Networks. EMC, Symmetrix and CLARiiON are registered trademarks of EMC Corporation. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
|