StarWind Releases Storage Industry’s First-Ever FCoE Software Initiator for Windows

StarWind announces a release of the first-ever FCoE software initiator for Windows that will be offered for free; allows servers to connect to Fibre Channel storage over standard Ethernet network

Burlington, Mass. – May 11, 2010 - StarWind Software Inc., a global leader and a pioneer in SAN software for building iSCSI storage servers, today announced a release of the first-ever Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) software initiator for Windows. StarWind is adding the new FCoE initiator technology to its storage management software portfolio to allow IT administrators to easily connect server applications to Fibre Channel (FC) storage over the standard Ethernet network and help users get the most value from their existing investments especially in VMware, Hyper-V and XenServer virtual environments. As with StarWind’s strategy for other products, this release will help eliminate the inflexibility of traditional physical storage, in this case allowing FC connectivity over the standard IP network using Windows servers.

FCoE protocol is an encapsulation of Fibre Channel packets over Ethernet networks, allowing Fibre Channel connections to leverage 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks. The FCoE standard was proposed in April of 2007 and has been fully ratified and supported by major technology companies worldwide. StarWind’s new FCoE software initiator fully implements Fibre Channel-over-Ethernet client-side protocol enabling servers to connect to remote storage appliances such as those developed by Qlogic and Cisco. The FCoE initiator does not modify the Fibre Channel frame but allows to connect to and transfer the storage data over Ethernet. since FCoE packets look just like regular Fibre Channel packets, the security and storage management will work equally well across FCoE as it does with existing FC storage.

“In the Fibre Channel world today, there are various proprietary stacks from traditional hardware vendors that may create inflexibility and interoperability issues," said Zorian Rotenberg, President and CEO of StarWind Software. "Our goal with this new software FCoE initiator is to make it easier for IT administrators at small and midsize companies to connect Fibre Channel to Windows servers through the existing Ethernet network rather than through the expensive Fibre Channel network and we are offering this choice and flexibility while offering the product for free."

StarWind also develops SAN software that is used to convert a standard, Intel-architecture x86 or x64 server into a fail-safe, fault-tolerant SAN that is built to be accessible even in the event of failure which makes it ideal for VMware, Hyper-V or XenServer virtualization environments. StarWind’s true active-active high availability (HA) storage architecture provides continuous and non-disruptive access to storage in the event of failure by synchronously mirroring data between two active storage appliances in real time.

About StarWind Software Inc.
StarWind Software is a global leader in storage management and SAN software for small and midsize companies. StarWind's flagship product is a SAN software that turns any industry-standard Windows Server into a fault-tolerant, fail-safe iSCSI SAN. It is designed for use as networked storage for VMware, Hyper-V, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint and other server applications configured in server clusters. StarWind Software is focused on providing small and midsize companies with affordable high availability technology which was previously only available in high-end storage products. The advanced, enterprise-class features include Synchronous Mirroring with Automated Failover and Failback, Remote Replication across a WAN, CDP and Snapshots, Thin Provisioning and Virtual Tape management.

Since 2003, StarWind has pioneered the iSCSI and SAN software industry and has been the solution of choice for over 30,000 global users in over 100 countries, from small and midsize companies, to governments, and Fortune 1000 companies.

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StarWind Software and the StarWind logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of StarWind Software Inc. or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Press Contacts:
Zorian Rotenberg
StarWind Software Inc.
617.449.7717 x101
zorian@starwindsoftware.com