Xyratex Announces Alliance with Cray

HAVANT, England, Nov. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Xyratex Ltd (Nasdaq: XRTX), a leading provider of enterprise class data storage solutions and hard disk drive capital equipment, today announced that Cray Inc. (Nasdaq: CRAY) is using Xyratex' innovative HPC data storage architectures as the basis for the Cray Sonexion™ storage system – a new family of integrated Lustre® High Performance Computing (HPC) data storage solutions. Xyratex will also be providing level-3 Lustre file system support services to Cray, which is recognized as a leading provider of HPC solutions to the top supercomputing and research facilities around the world.

Cray and Xyratex are committed to leveraging the commonalities and strengths of both companies to develop productive Lustre storage solutions for HPC environments. Cray and Xyratex are members of OpenSFS – a technical, community-based organization that is focused on high-end open-source file system technologies and is committed to ensuring the ongoing success of Lustre. Cray has delivered some of the highest performance and most productive file systems in the HPC market, Xyratex has more than 25 years of experience in researching and developing enterprise class data storage solutions, and by working together, the Cray Sonexion system includes unique, differentiated features, such as a customized Lustre management system and Cray's best-in-class service offerings.

"Cray is recognized as a leading company in High Performance Computing and we're delighted to be working with such a well respected company," said Steve Barber, CEO of Xyratex. "We've developed a strong relationship with Cray and are confident that they will be very successful in delivering a compelling solution to the HPC community. We are also excited to be working with Cray to support the Lustre community in its efforts to continue to evolve the Lustre roadmap. Xyratex is traditionally known for enterprise storage expertise, Cray is known for High Performance Computing expertise, and we are convinced that this combination will enable a new generation of HPC data storage solutions."

"We are excited to be working with Xyratex in the development of our Cray Sonexion storage system," said Barry Bolding, Cray's vice president of storage and data management. "We chose to work with Xyratex because of its long history in the development of high quality enterprise data storage solutions and its world-class Lustre expertise. After a very thorough analysis, we believe that, with Xyratex' strengths combined with our expertise in scaling Lustre in production, we can deliver a new paradigm in HPC data storage."

About Xyratex

Xyratex is a leading provider of enterprise class data storage subsystems and hard disk drive capital equipment. The Networked Storage Solutions division designs and manufactures a range of advanced, scalable data storage solutions for the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) community. As the largest capital equipment supplier to the industry, the Storage Infrastructure division enables disk drive manufacturers and their component suppliers to meet today's technology and productivity requirements. Xyratex has over 25 years of experience in research and development relating to disk drives, storage systems and manufacturing process technology.

Founded in 1994 in an MBO from IBM, and with headquarters in the UK, Xyratex has an established global base with R&D and operational facilities in Europe, the United States and South East Asia.

Lustre is a registered trademark of Oracle. Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Xyratex Ltd