3WARE® RELEASES 7.4 FIRMWARE----RAISING THE BAR ON ATA RAID CAPABILITIES.

Mountain View, Calif. -----March 21, 2002----3ware, Inc., the industry leader in switched storage RAID controllers, launched a new firmware upgrade, bringing ATA RAID to new levels of reliability, scalability, and array management capabilities.

The Escalade 7.4 firmware release complements the Escalade 7000 series of ATA RAID cards and includes new firmware, a new driver, and a new browser-based, RAID management utility. These combined enhancements provide users with capabilities previously unattainable in an ATA environment.

The 7.4 firmware provides greater reliability and data security by performing dynamic sector repair for RAID-1, RAID-10 and RAID-5 arrays. By extending disk service intervals, 3ware has improved data availability. Enhanced background verify and consistency checking help assure that the array is in a fault-tolerant mode. By monitoring and remotely reporting disk drive "SMART" data (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology), disk array health can be managed. And, auto-sensing of ATA transfer speed now includes the new ATA-133 specification.

The 7.4 firmware improves scalability by supporting the newer, large ATA drives. By allowing use of drives exceeding 137GB per drive, Escalade controllers enable over a terabyte of storage on a single controller, making the Escalade 7000 the only ATA product available that can make this claim.

Configuring of disk arrays is greatly improved by enhanced pacing and scheduling features for initialize and rebuild, including remote progress reporting. Remote error log access through 3ware’s 3DM disk management software improves maintainability of Escalade disk arrays.

Included in the 7.4 firmware release, 3ware has added drivers for O/S support for Red Hat 7.2, SuSE 7.2 & 7.3, and Windows XP.

                                    3ware products are now shipping with these new firmware features, and current Escalade 7000 owners can also take advantage of the upgrade with a web download. Please visit the website at www.3ware.com/support/download.asp for more details or to start your download now!

About 3ware.

Founded in 1997, 3ware, Inc., the technology leader in switched storage solutions, delivers reliable, scalable, network-managed, high performance storage. 3ware products are based on 3ware’s StorSwitch™ Architecture, which applies network packet switching to storage controllers. 3ware solutions are designed to meet the explosive new demand for cost-effective, scalable storage, driven by networking applications. 3ware sells through VARs, OEMs and System Integrators. 3ware, Inc. is located in Mountain View, California with sales offices and distribution in the USA, Europe and Japan.

© Copyright 2002 3ware, Inc. All rights reserved. Specifications subject to change without notice. 3ware is a registered trademark and Escalade and StorSwitch are trademarks of 3ware, Inc. All other trademarks herein are the property of their respective owners.