SNIA Technology Center Champions Program Continues Momentum and Supports New Hands-On Education Offerings

iStor, Mu Security and NetApp Become Members, Contribute Significant Technology for Trace Data Research, Security Testing and Streaming Media

San Francisco, Calif. (January 14, 2008) The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) announced today that three new members of the SNIA Technology Center Champions Program members iStor, Mu Security and NetApp have collectively contributed over $350,000 in equipment in 2007 that will help support new hands-on training programs at the association's Technology Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The SNIA Technology Center provides year-round availability and remote hosting of the technologies and equipment that drive the SNIA's involvement throughout the storage industry. The Tech Center Champions Program ensures that the latest technologies are implemented and used for the development of storage standards and interoperability testing, as well as educational programs and solution demonstrations of cutting-edge technologies at Storage Networking World conferences around the world.

"The SNIA would like to thank iStor, NetApp and Mu Security for their contributions to the Technology Center Champions Program. Their contributions will support key areas of our efforts at the SNIA ranging from all the storage for our Input/Output Traces, Tools & Analysis (IOTTA) Data Repository website to 10-Gigabit Ethernet iSCSI storage for the hosting and delivery of our streamed audio and video content," said Rick Bauer, Technology and Education Director at the SNIA. "Mu Security's recent contribution of their security analyzer and protocol suite will allow member companies to identify and improve areas of security in their equipment and goes a long way toward improving the testing capability of our Technology Center in Colorado Springs."

New Hands-On Training Program
The SNIA also has continued to expand the reach of its Technology Center Champions Program by beginning new hands-on-lab training offerings in the SNIA Storage Networking Certification curriculum that will run on technology contributions from the Program. This new element to the course offerings will extend the existing SNIA Technology Center technology and directly reach end-users seeking in-depth, hands-on training on specific storage technologies and solutions.

Since opening the SNIA Technology Center in 2002, the SNIA has hosted more than 4,000 end-users at the Colorado Springs, CO facility for training and education. This new program will be integrated into the SNIA Education curriculum and ensure end users receive the same level of vendor-neutral learning they have come to expect from the Association.

For full details on each level of membership and information on how to get involved in the SNIA Technology Center Champions Program, please visit /tech_center/champions.

About the SNIA
The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) is a not-for-profit global organization, made up of some 400 member companies and 7,000 individuals spanning virtually the entire storage industry. SNIA's mission is to lead the storage industry worldwide in developing and promoting standards, technologies, and educational services to empower organizations in the management of information. To this end, the SNIA is uniquely committed to delivering standards, education, and services that will propel open storage networking solutions into the broader market. For additional information, visit the SNIA web site at www.snia.org.