Deliver Joint Solution Package for zSeries and S/390 Linux

INNOVATION Data Processing and Sistina Software along with Mainline, the top IBM solution provider in North America, collaborate on a Package Solution offering for Linux on IBM Mainframes

Little Falls, NJ January 23, 2003-INNOVATION Data Processing, a leading worldwide provider of enterprise storage management solutions announces today a teaming agreement with Sistina Software (the premier storage infrastructure company for enterprise level Linux data sharing solutions) and Mainline Information Systems, Inc. (an IBM Premier Business Partner and the top IBM solution provider in North America) to offer a Linux System Solution Package for the IBM zSeries and S/390 platforms.

This teaming effort brings together a comprehensive product suite that combines the quality and stability of the SuSE Linux operating system, with the powerful Sistina Global File System (GFS) and INNOVATION's robust FDR/UPSTREAM storage management suite, to provide customers with an all in one solution for building their Linux systems infrastructure.

Too often, the arduous task of selecting hardware and software products concludes with a lingering uncertainty regarding interoperability and potential incompatibility between the individual components. The resolution to this dilemma is for vendors to collaborate and work together to ensure that a joint solution composed of their combined offerings will meet and exceed the expectations of their customers. The teaming agreement being announced today strives to meet this goal.

INNOVATION believes that it is the responsibility of all vendors to ensure that system integrity is maintained across all supported platforms and product sets, and that those systems and their respective data files are properly protected with an effective backup/restore and disaster recovery solution. This is especially important for those organizations looking to roll out new Linux workloads or execute cost effective server consolidation strategies on the IBM eServer family of computers. The

INNOVATION contribution to the joint Solution Package for zSeries and S/390 Linux is FDR/UPSTREAM, a member of the INNOVATION Fast Dump Restore (FDR) family of products. FDR/UPSTREAM which now includes S/390 Linux Rescuer for full system disaster recovery, as well as non-disruptive online database backup agents for S/390 Linux Oracle and DB2, is a high performance enterprise-wide solution for protecting corporate data distributed across a variety of open system platforms including Linux on IBM Mainframes.

"Enterprise interest in Linux is reaching critical mass. We see increasing numbers of large commercial customers defining a role for Linux in general and specifically Linux on an IBM mainframe class eServer in their IT plans", said Thomas J Meehan, CTO and Vice President of INNOVATION Data Processing. Adding, "INNOVATION is extremely proud to be part of this unique collaborative effort. An alliance that is significant in that it will instill customers' with confidence that their Linux business applications can now roll out on an IBM zSeries or S/390 eServer, that has an underpinning system infrastructure, complete with full backup/restore and system disaster recovery capabilities, which has been thoroughly tested and is jointly supported by companies partnering to work together as a team."

Sistina Software Inc. brings to this alliance the Sistina Global File System, the industry's first, most-advanced Linux-based cluster file system for the IBM S/390 and zSeries platform. Built on solid IBM technology and supported on the SuSE Linux Enterprise Server distribution, Sistina GFS enables diverse Linux partitions on mainframes to access and manage hundreds of storage nodes as a single entity, greatly improving performance, reliability and the day-to-day management of complex storage environments. Through this alliance, Sistina GFS for the IBM Linux Mainframe, combined with the INNOVATION FDR/UPSTREAM product suite, will provide customers with a high performance backup and recovery solution for clusters of Linux servers running on the mainframe.

"With the emergence of Linux as a standard enterprise platform, we are also noticing a strong demand for server consolidation and high availability within the mainframe environment," said Joaquín Ruiz, Vice President of Marketing and Product Management of Sistina Software. "We are pleased to be working closely with INNOVATION and Mainline in order to provide the mechanism that unites hundreds of virtual machines and delivers powerful data-sharing capabilities, ultimately providing a complete IBM Linux Mainframe solution to our joint customer base."

Mainline Information Systems brings to this relationship a wealth of experience in the IBM eServer arena. Mainline not only offers the entire portfolio of IBM hardware and software products, but has a professional services division that provides assessment, design, installation, implementation, as well as application development, migration and porting.

Mainline also supplies the z/VM operating system, IBM middleware, the SuSE Linux Enterprise Server distribution and provides a comprehensive 24 x7 Linux support offering for the zSeries platform, all levels of Linux software support (including patches, fixes and new releases), along with problem ownership and management to resolution.

"The Linux frontier brings with it exciting and wonderful changes to the way we currently do business. We are thrilled to be part of the trend of vendors collaborating in an effort to ensure that our customers receive the highest quality solutions with the finest of products", said Rick Kearney, CEO of Mainline Information Systems, Inc.

"Deploying this type of industrial strength solution, on top of the SuSE Linux distribution that is running on IBM's most powerful eServer, will provide our customers with the strongest foundation possible for building their e-business infrastructure", adds Mr. Kearney.

"SuSE Linux is excited to be the base technology for this exciting agreement," said Holger Dyroff, General Manager Americas, SuSE Linux. "With SuSE's technological expertise, combined with the stability and functionality of our software and services partners, enterprise customers will have proven solutions for delivery of their mission
critical applications."

About INNOVATION Data Processing
INNOVATION Data Processing, with a worldwide customer base and 30 years experience in backup, restore, hierarchical storage management and disaster recovery is internationally recognized for its inventiveness in this market segment. Headquartered in Little Falls, NJ, INNOVATION is a leader in enterprise storage management with industry leading products; FDR (Fast Dump Restore), ABR, FDRPAS, FASTCPK, FDRSOS, FDRINSTANT, FDR/UPSTREAM, FDR/UPSTREAM/SOS, FATS/FATAR and IAM.

INNOVATION FDR/UPSTREAM is a complete storage management solution for the protection of corporate data distributed across heterogeneous platforms. Employing an IBM zSeries or S/390 eServer, FDR/UPSTREAM is a high performance enterprise-wide business continuance backup solution for corporate data distributed on MS Windows, Novell, UNIX, Linux on Intel servers as well as for workstations and Linux on IBM Mainframes. The "Director", a platform independent Java GUI insures FDR/UPSTREAM can easily backup and restore Linux system images, database and application file systems from virtually anywhere in an enterprise while providing additional robust features such as file transfer, file migration, disaster recovery and tape vaulting with centrally administered profile policy management.

FDR/UPSTREAM database agents provide non-disruptive online backup capability, giving organizations maximum protection for their data without the bottom line impact of having to bring databases down to protect them with a backup. FDR/UPSTREAM 3.2.1 enhancements, in addition to "S/390 Linux Rescuer", add support for file-level backup/restore of FIFO and device files, expanding the capability of UPSTREAM to protect all existing Linux file types including hard links, symbolic links, owners, single file systems, Reiser file systems as well as ext2, ext3, XFS and remote NFS attachments. UPSTREAM, with no additional setup or special consideration will transparently incorporate in every backup metadata on each file system, including file system demarcation points. Now even easier to use, a single specification can backup an entire system with record setting performance. While on zSeries IBM eServers FDR/UPSTREAM employs HiperSockets to even further accelerate backup/restore throughput. For additional information, visit www.innovationdp.fdr.com.

About Sistina

Sistina, the premier storage infrastructure software company, delivers data-sharing solutions for enterprise and technical computing customers. Based on Sistina's file system and volume management software, Sistina provides customers, such as InfoSpace, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center and Fermilab, with high performance, scalable, robust storage solutions. Sistina supports multiple server, OS, storage and networking technologies enabling customers to manage low-TCO, highly integrated environments. Sistina's technology is ideally suited for customers deploying large database, file-serving, scientific and web applications. For additional information, visit www.sistina.com.

Sistina Global File System (GFS) is the leading enterprise-class clustered file system on Linux, enabling data-sharing solutions for organizations requiring high-performance, scalable and robust storage solutions. Those customers, who are rolling out zSeries Linux based solutions for the first time, will be able to lay down a solid storage foundation regardless of the server complement or storage layout. Customers who are currently utilizing Sistina's cluster file system software in their existing enterprise, will not have to change their storage infrastructure as they consolidate outboard servers to the Linux zSeries platform.

About Mainline Information Systems

Mainline Information Systems was founded in 1989 as a computer consulting firm. Since then, it has become a global provider of information technology and e-business solutions. Mainline Information Systems is an IBM Premier Business Partner. In addition to its United States offices, Mainline Global Systems has offices in China and Korea. Corporate offices are located at 1700 Summit Lake Drive, Tallahassee, Florida 32311. The Company can be reached by phone at 850.219.5000, and on the Internet at www.mainline.com.