Mardi Larson, 612/683-3538 CRAY RESEARCH ANNOUNCES NEW RAID NETWORK DISK ARRAY PRODUCT EAGAN, Minn., Nov. 16, 1993 -- Cray Research today announced that it is expanding its RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) product offering by introducing the Cray Research Network Disk Array, a bulk storage device designed to reside on high-performance computer networks. The new RAID network device enables users to store data on the network, rather than on a storage device directly connected to and accessible only from a single system on the network. Today, the Network Disk Array can be partitioned between multiple systems on the network. Connecting the Network Disk Array via a High Performance Parallel Interface (HIPPI) switch gives users an alternate access path to their data via other systems if their normal path is unavailable. With additional software currently under development, the new product will act as a completely shared storage resource, allowing Cray Research systems to share files and data. This is the first network storage device offered by Cray Research and its second RAID-based disk array product. Earlier this year, the company announced the DA-60, DA-62 disk arrays combined with the DCA-3 channel adapters -- Cray Research's RAID level 3 local disk array offering. The Network Disk Array offers RAID level 1, 3, and 5, Cray Research said. "The Cray Research Network Disk Array gives supercomputer users a flexible storage device that combines high-speed data transfer with the ability to partition the device to more than one system," said Mike Anderson, peripherals product manager for Cray Research. "The disk array is a cost-effective storage device and faster than moving user data to tape. The Network Disk Array offers extremely high reliability, resiliency, and concurrent maintainability features." Anderson noted that the new network array from Cray Research can more than double the amount of data accessible to users via one channel. He said that, connected via a HIPPI channel, the Network Disk Array provides up to 232 gigabytes of data storage for Cray Research supercomputer systems with the Model E input/output (I/O) subsystem (CRAY Y-MP model E, CRAY C90 series, and CRAY Y-MP M90 series systems). The Cray Research Model E/HIPPI Disk Driver software, normally priced in the U.S. at $75,000, is included at no charge with the Network Disk Array. With the software and RAID configurations, the disk array is capable of data transfer rates exceeding 60 megabytes per second. The disk driver communicates with the network disk array using Intelligent Peripheral Interface-3 (IPI-3) protocol and supports reconstruction of data concurrent with array operations. The Network Disk Array is available now. U.S. pricing begins at $450,000 and includes a one-year warranty. Cray Research creates the most powerful, highest-quality computational tools for solving the world's most challenging scientific and industrial problems. ###