HGST And NEC Deliver Proven Performance For Scalable SQL Server Appliances

New Reference Architecture Built on Enterprise-Class NEC Servers and HGST PCIe SSDs give 24x7 Mission-Critical Data Center Operations a 173 Percent Boost in Performance with up to 8.8 TB of High-Performance Flash Per Server

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HGST

Aug 12, 2014, 08:00 ET

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Enterprise storage leader HGST, a Western Digital company (NASDAQ: WDC), and NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701), today announced a PCIe SSD Appliance for Microsoft® SQL Server® – a performance-driven reference architecture built on NEC Express 5800 scalable enterprise server series and high-performance HGST FlashMAX II PCIe server-mounted flash storage. This appliance not only demonstrates a tremendous boost in performance, but also reduces total cost of ownership (TCO) by significantly cutting rack space and power requirements when compared to previous generation solutions.

The PCIe SSD appliance delivers more than twice the compute power of the previous generation 4CPU platform in a single 4U server, reducing rack space requirements by 69 percent and power consumption by 27 percent. The inclusion of HGST's FlashMAX II devices injects up to 8.8TB of high-performance flash per server, for a near doubling of logical scan rates to 8.2GBps that tackles even the largest SQL workloads. With features once only found on mainframe or UNIX servers, this new appliance delivers significant and predicable performance, as well as scalability, to keep pace with the changing demands of today's enterprise data center operations.

"HGST is pleased to work with NEC to provide customers with this validated reference architecture and solution that has proven performance," said Mike Gustafson, senior vice president and general manager, HGST Flash Platforms Group. "With the need for high-performance being a driving force in data center operations, the FlashMAX II was built from the ground up to provide unconditional and consistent levels of IOPS across a broad range of applications and workloads at all capacity utilization levels."

"NEC is excited about this announcement of the reference architecture combining our Scalable Enterprise Server and HGST FlashMax technology, providing secure and scalable capacity with unmatched performance," said Tomoyasu Nishimura, general manager of NEC IT Platform Division. "We have a proven track record with HGST FlashMAX II technology, and we look forward to bringing this appliance as well as others to the market with a superior value proposition."

For more information about the HGST FlashMAX II solution, please visit www.hgst.com. For more information about NEC Express 5800 solution, please visit www.nec.com.

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About HGST
HGST, a Western Digital company (NASDAQ: WDC), develops innovative, advanced hard disk drives, enterprise-class solid state drives, external storage solutions and services used to store, preserve and manage the world's most valued data. HGST addresses customers' rapidly changing storage needs by delivering intelligent storage devices that tightly integrate hardware and software to maximize solution performance. Founded by the pioneers of hard drives, HGST provides high-value storage for a broad range of market segments, including Enterprise, Cloud, Datacenter, Mobile Computing, Consumer Electronics and Personal Storage. HGST was established in 2003 and maintains its U.S. headquarters in San Jose, California. To find out more about HGST enterprise-class HDD, SSD and SW solutions, please visit www.hgst.com.

About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation is a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit businesses and people around the world. By providing a combination of products and solutions that cross utilize the company's experience and global resources, NEC's advanced technologies meet the complex and ever-changing needs of its customers. NEC brings more than 100 years of expertise in technological innovation to empower people, businesses and society. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to expected demand for certain categories of HDDs and availability dates for HDD products. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including changes in markets, demand, global economic conditions and other risks and uncertainties listed in Western Digital's recent SEC filings, to which your attention is directed. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak on as of the date hereof, and HGST/WD undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

HGST FlashMAX and the Virident logo are trademarks of HGST. All other products and services listed herein are trademarks of their respective companies.

One GB is equal to one billion bytes, and one TB equals 1,000 GB (one trillion bytes). Actual capacity will vary depending on operating environment and formatting.