The low cost of the Stratus® ftServer® W Series 2400 server makes fault tolerance a realistic option for virtually any Windows-based application that may benefit from being continuously available. ftServer W Series 2400 system product description

Maynard, MA, March 7, 2006 – Stratus Technologies, Inc. today announced the Stratus^® ftServer^® W Series 2400 system, an entry-level fault-tolerant server offering 99.999 percent reliability protection against unplanned downtime. Based on the same third-generation architecture as Stratus’ ftServer 4300, 4600 and 5700 models, the ftServer 2400 design also eliminates the need for planned downtime to make hardware repairs, as was the case with its predecessor.

With a US $9,999 list price, the ftServer 2400 system is more affordable and offers greater uptime reliability than:

• low-end clustered servers with single points of failure,
• stand-by server configurations, and
• most high-end simplex servers.

The W Series 2400 server is ideal for replicated multi-site deployments at locations where lights-out system management is desirable, such as distribution centers, warehouses, branch offices, retail and rental chains, as well as public safety computer-aided dispatch applications in small-to-medium sized municipalities. Available in rack-mount and pedestal configurations, the one-way continuously available server with 3.2 GHz Intel^® Xeon^® processor supports the Microsoft Windows^® 2003 Standard Edition, up to 4 GB of memory, and a variety of internal and external storage options.

A ‘cluster buster’
IT managers challenged with hitting a low unit cost per server generally face high deployment and maintenance costs, or will sacrifice high availability to achieve a low price point. While simple and low cost, simplex servers typically lack uptime reliability and sophisticated remote servicing technology.

“High-availability clusters offer improved reliability for a higher price, but are difficult to deploy, manage and maintain,” said Denny Lane, Stratus director of Product Management & Marketing. “By comparison, the W Series 2400 system is as easy to deploy as a simplex server. Any application written for Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition will load and run without modification, and will immediately benefit from operating in a fault-tolerant computing environment.”

Only Stratus systems offer a fault-tolerant remote access controller – the Virtual Technician Module (VTM) – that, in turn, connects to the fully fault-tolerant Stratus ActiveService™ network to help ensure exceptional reliability. The VTM has its own hardened drivers, power, and network connections. Regardless of the server’s operational state, the VTM allows a service engineer to remotely perform advanced diagnosis, troubleshooting, and remediation. With the exception of physically swapping parts, virtually any task that can be performed onsite with the actual server can be performed remotely, such as powering up, viewing the boot screen, or downloading software updates, for example.

About Stratus Technologies
Stratus Technologies is a global solutions provider focused exclusively on helping its customers achieve and sustain the availability of information systems that support their critical business processes. Based upon its 25 years of expertise in server and services technology for continuous availability, Stratus is a trusted solutions provider to customers in manufacturing, life sciences, telecommunications, financial services, public safety, transportation & logistics, and other industries.

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