MARTINSRIED/MUNICH, Germany and MAHWAH, N.J., March 1, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- ADVA Optical Networking (FSE:ADV), a leading global provider of optical networking solutions, today announced the successful completion of interoperability testing and qualification of ADVA's Fiber Service Platform (FSP) 2000 system for IBM Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex (GDPS) S/390 and zSeries eServer environments. Proven interoperability in accordance with IBM's testing procedures enables the IBM and ADVA systems to be deployed together to implement a highly-effective disaster recovery and business continuity solution for mission-critical applications.
A GDPS-based installation is one of the most comprehensive disaster recovery and business continuity solutions for large multi-site enterprises. It combines the characteristics of high availability and continuous operations to deliver high levels of service, and is based on geographical clusters and data mirroring. These technologies form the backbone of a GDPS solution, which automatically mirrors critical data using automation and Parallel Sysplex technology to manage multi-site databases, processors, network resources and storage subsystem mirroring, and thereby efficiently balances workload between multiple sites in and beyond a metropolitan area. Widescale GDPS installations by large enterprise customers increasingly call for greater distance and bandwidth capacity to interconnect multiple sites in widespread metropolitan areas, thereby mitigating the potential risks of various disaster recovery scenarios and creating more comprehensive business continuity solutions.
"GDPS qualification is an extremely important milestone in building ADVA's cooperation with IBM. As a leading vendor of disaster recovery and business continuity solutions for large corporations around the world, IBM is a dominant player in the storage industry with incredible customer mindshare. Given the mission-critical nature of a GDPS environment, qualification by IBM is almost mandatory for any equipment deployed in this environment. ADVA's recent qualification provides a great amount of assurance to those customers who have deployed ADVA's FSP systems in their GDPS environments over the past years - and positions us even more strongly for future GDPS projects amongst the few vendors possessing this type of qualification," commented Brian P. McCann, Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer at ADVA Optical Networking.
ADVA's FSP 2000 was launched in May 2001 as the successor product to the company's best-selling FSP-II product. Now in its seventh major new feature release, the FSP 2000 provides a seamless upgrade path from the FSP-II, also sold by Cisco Systems as the Metro 1500. Targeted toward enterprises and carriers, the parallel use of Coarse and Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (CWDM/DWDM) and Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) technologies enable up to 512 applications to be transported over one single fiber pair up to 200 kilometers. Its robust character and ability to transport all protocols between 8Mbit/s and 10Gbit/s make the FSP 2000 an ideal solution particularly for storage networks. Recently introduced features include a new 8-channel CWDM card, next-generation universal transponder design and SFP transceivers, multi-node ring functionality, and unique CWDM/DWDM hybrid solution.
GDPS qualification is one in a long series of interoperability tests conducted by ADVA and IBM. Other IBM qualifications of ADVA can be found on IBM's website at www.ibm.com. More information about the FSP 2000 product and key applications can be found on ADVA's website at www.advaoptical.com.
ABOUT ADVA OPTICAL NETWORKING
ADVA Optical Networking is a leading global provider of optical networking solutions for rapid and cost-effective provisioning of high-speed data, storage, voice, and video services in the metropolitan area. ADVA's carrier-class Fiber Service Platform (FSP) product portfolio is explicitly designed to enhance services, simplify networks, and reduce the total cost of ownership. ADVA's solutions have been deployed at over 80 carriers and several thousand enterprises worldwide. ADVA's products are sold through an international network of blue-chip distribution partners in addition to its own direct sales force. For further information about ADVA, please visit our web site at www.advaoptical.com.
PUBLISHED BY: ADVA AG Optical Networking, Martinsried/Munich and Meiningen, Germany ADVA Optical Networking Inc., Mahwah/New Jersey, USA ADVA Optical Networking Corp., Tokyo, Japan www.advaoptical.com FOR PRESS AND INVESTORS: Alexa M. Schmidt t +1 201 258 8293 (U.S.) t +49(0)89 89 0665 240 (Europe) t +81 3 5408 5891 (Asia) investor-relations@advaoptical.com public-relations@advaoptical.com