Mesirow Financial Reports High Returns from EqualLogic's PeerStorage SAN Solution.

Business Editors

NASHUA, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 8, 2004

EqualLogic Solution Increases Storage Management and Capacity,

Reduces Costs and Eliminates Compromises for Financial Services

Company

EqualLogic(R), Inc. today announced Mesirow Financial,

a diversified financial services firm with more than $6 billion in assets under management, is using EqualLogic's PeerStorage(TM) storage area network (SAN) solution to meet its immediate and future storage requirements. Mesirow Financial cites the PeerStorage array's ease of use, scalability and cost-effectiveness as leading factors in reducing the company's storage management costs and increasing asset utilization.

Headquartered in Chicago, Mesirow Financial's focus on delivering the highest levels of service and performance runs from customer service to its IT department. For years, Mesirow Financial had to make compromises in their storage environment. Direct attached storage (DAS) was cost-effective but difficult to manage and consolidate, while network attached storage (NAS) delivered increased manageability but at a high price and without block-level storage support. EqualLogic's PeerStorage array eliminated the compromises by delivering a self-managing IP SAN with sophisticated virtualization and snapshot capabilities at an affordable price point.

Jay Walusek, vice president of server administration at Mesirow Financial, said, "We evaluated multiple IP SAN vendors and determined EqualLogic's PeerStorage solution delivered the most comprehensive management, scalability and consolidation capabilities. By combining an intuitive front-end management console with crucial SAN features including snapshots and virtualization, the PeerStorage array has increased our storage capacity while decreasing our involvement. Installation of our PeerStorage arrays took just 20 minutes, which is a testament to the technology's simplicity and ease of use."

The PeerStorage Array's compact, modular design is fully redundant and comes with all the required features of a robust SAN, including management software and snapshot functionality. The system uses iSCSI connectivity so customers, such as Mesirow Financial, can maximize their IP networks and expertise to reduce system costs and complexities. PeerStorage solutions have been shown to reduce storage management expense by 75 percent and increase asset utilization to more than 85 percent. Pricing starts at $28,250 MSRP.

"EqualLogic is dedicated to being a strategic partner to our customers, delivering innovative storage solutions with the nimbleness and responsiveness that mimics our customers' rapidly changing storage environments," said John Joseph, vice president of marketing for EqualLogic. "Mesirow Financial's success in consolidating and managing their storage environment shows the significant results forward-thinking companies can achieve using our IP SAN solution."

About EqualLogic

PeerStorage(TM) solutions from EqualLogic(R), Inc. deliver the benefits of consolidated storage in a modular, self-managing, IP-based storage area network that is affordable and easy to use, regardless of scale. By eliminating complex tasks and enabling fast and flexible storage provisioning, PeerStorage solutions dramatically reduce acquisition and ongoing operational costs and make enterprise class shared block storage practical for the mid-range storage market. EqualLogic is based in Nashua, NH. For more information visit http://www.equallogic.com/ or http://www.peerstorage.com/

EqualLogic and PeerStorage are trademarks or registered trademarks of EqualLogic, Inc. Other marks belong to their respective owners.