Dot Hill Bolsters Technology Portfolio With the Addition of New Patents

LONGMONT, Colo., June 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dot Hill Systems Corp. (Nasdaq: HILL), a provider of world-class storage solutions and software for OEMs, open storage partners and system integrators, today announced the addition of two new patents to the company's technology portfolio, bringing the company's portfolio to a total of 67 patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The first of the two most recently granted patents improves reliability and usability for storage controllers and data storage systems. Storage controllers contain the control logic that performs commands for overall management of device operations.

U.S. patent 7,743,224 "Method and apparatus for virtual load regions in storage system controllers" provides a novel method for managing storage controller code, where two different versions of code are stored in storage controller memory. The code identifiers designate which of the two code versions is to be a primary version, which the storage controller will initially attempt to boot.

If any problems are encountered in booting or operating with the primary version of code, the controller first stops execution of the failing code, second, switches to the other version of storage controller code, and third, initiates a boot sequence from the other version of code. This invention is helpful for allowing a controller to successfully boot if a version of code is either corrupted or has other problems. Therefore, a test or experimental version of code can be loaded into a storage controller. If the test or experimental version of code cannot boot, the controller will automatically select an older stable version of code and successfully boot.

The second patent granted covers technology that helps improve the overall management experience for storage administrators, by reducing repetitive extraneous information relayed by storage system controllers, improving available network bandwidth and reducing clutter at the user interface.

U.S. patent 7,743,138 "Method and apparatus for external event notification management over in-band and out-of-band networks in storage system controllers" provides a method for notifying a user of events involving the data storage system. Storage controllers in the data storage system maintain subscription statistics for each user of the data storage system, where the subscription statistics describe which informational, error, and other events the user wishes to be notified of. The data storage system also keeps track of which events have already been reported to a requesting user, so that the same events are not reported to the same user multiple times.

"To meet the needs of today's 'always on' business world, data storage has changed radically; technology innovation is essential to driving greater levels of functionality, ease of use, capacity and throughput," said Jim Kuenzel, senior vice president of engineering at Dot Hill Systems. "These new patents are further testament to Dot Hill's technology innovation and to the depth and breadth of our technical talent, which is unmatched across the storage industry."

About Dot Hill

Offering enterprise-class security, availability and data protection, Dot Hill provides responsive and adaptive storage solutions to meet 24/7/365 business demands. With Dot Hill, businesses can proactively safeguard and manage business data, and leverage operational efficiencies to save time, effort and expense today, while meeting the evolving business needs of tomorrow, strategically and cost effectively. Headquartered in Longmont, Colo., Dot Hill has offices and/or representatives in China, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Singapore, United Kingdom, and the United States.

For more information, visit us at www.dothill.com.

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Certain statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical fact are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. Forward-looking statements include the availability and performance of current or future Dot Hill product features based on the patented technology described in this press release, any competitive advantage that the patents and technology provide to Dot Hill, any positive effect on Dot Hill's financial results due to the patents, and Dot Hill's ability to continue to receive patent protection on current or future technology. The risks that contribute to the uncertain nature of the forward-looking statements include: any unforeseen technological, intellectual property, supply or engineering issues, and changing customer preferences. However, there are many other risks not listed here that may affect the future business of Dot Hill, as well as the forward-looking statements contained herein. To learn about such risks and uncertainties, you should read the risk factors set forth in Dot Hill's public filings with the SEC, including the Forms 8-K, 10-K and 10-Q most recently filed by Dot Hill. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as the date on which they were made. Dot Hill undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect later events or circumstances.

SOURCE Dot Hill Systems Corp.