Xsigo Systems, Inc., a technology leader in data center I/O virtualization, today announced it has successfully completed interoperability testing with a broad spectrum of IBM storage and server products. Xsigo Systems is now a certified member of IBM's System Storage Proven™ program, which builds on IBM's already extensive interoperability efforts to develop and deliver products and solutions that work together with third party products.

"Xsigo products complement IBM solutions by offering a flexible, cost-effective approach to server connectivity," said Ashok Krishnamurthi, CEO and chairman, Xsigo Systems. "With this certification, customers can now confidently embrace Xsigo solutions to gain greater flexibility in their infrastructure management. Our participation in this program demonstrates that Xsigo and IBM are each focused on customer satisfaction by promoting greater interoperability."

"The Xsigo I/O Director gives IBM customers new options for managing server connectivity and increasing operational efficiency," said Dr. Bernard S. Meyerson, IBM Fellow, vice president of strategic alliances and CTO, IBM Systems and Technology Group. "Xsigo's innovative I/O virtualization technology and extensive testing on our storage and server products enables us to provide a proven interoperable solution that can reduce deployment time, increase operational efficiency, and save costs."

For this certification, rigorous tests were conducted over a period of four weeks at the IBM Innovation Center in San Mateo, California. The test suite included 47 separate hardware/software tests, many running under strenuous conditions for 72 hours continuously. Testing included all phases of operation -- installation, management and maintenance. Additionally, Xsigo's VP780 I/O Director and IBM's server and storage products were stress and performance tested to simulate large-scale data center environments. Test result details can be viewed at www.xsigo.com.

IBM System Storage products tested include:

--  IBM System Storage Disk Systems (DS8000, DS6000, DS4700, DS4400)
    
--  IBM System Storage Tape System (TS3200)
    

Xsigo Systems recently launched the Xsigo VP780 I/O Director, one of the first I/O virtualization products targeting I/O problems in today's large data centers. Xsigo's technology overcomes the limitations of traditional server connectivity by consolidating cabling and by replacing multiple physical network and storage interfaces (NICs and HBAs) with virtual resources that appear to applications and operating systems exactly as their physical counterparts. Because the Xsigo I/O Director simplifies infrastructure and management, it is estimated that large data centers can lower their server-related operational expenses by up to 80%, cut capital costs by 50%, and use 70% less cabling.

The IBM System Storage Proven program supports the ability of independent hardware and software vendors to build high-quality solutions with the latest technology on leading storage platforms as well as reduce solution design time when multiple, tested building blocks have already been pre-tested.