NORTHERN STORAGE SUITE 2005 OFFICIALLY RELEASED

NEW SUITE FROM NORTHERN FURTHER ESTABLISHES COMPANY AS SRM MARKET LEADER BY PROVIDING POWERFUL COMBINATION OF VALUE, FEATURES AND PERFORMANCE

NORTHERN, global providers of flexible, easy to administer, Windows-based storage resource management software solutions, today announces the release of Northern Storage Suite 2005. Built around Northern¡¦s Quota Server technology, the suite consolidates Northern¡¦s entire family of storage software products into one universal SRM solution, integrating disk quotas, reporting, charge-back, automation and end-user interaction. The suite facilitates smooth migration and easy scalability - unlike competitive offerings, which offer an array of add-on modules and confusing pricing schemes, users can now simply turn on features as needed in response to changes in their storage environment. Northern Storage Suite 2005 now offers complete NAS support, is cluster-aware, expands storage self-management though an enhanced end-user portal, simplifies multi-server configuration, and more.

¡§Northern Storage Suite 2005 is the culmination of over tens years of providing innovative, real-world storage solutions to companies of all sizes around the world,¡¨ said Northern President Thomas Vernersson. ¡§It offers the three ingredients companies want most: comprehensive storage resource management that increases efficiencies while lowering administrative overhead, a solution that makes storage less expensive to manage, and a solution that affords policy-based storage management that can be aligned with objectives on a departmental or organizational level. Ultimately, Northern Storage Suite 2005 is more than a robust tool for storage management ¡V it¡¦s a critical business tool that emphasizes the correlation between efficient storage management, high availability and uninterrupted business processes -- all of which goes to increased productivity and competitiveness.¡¨

• NAS Support: All components of Northern Storage Suite are now fully functional on NAS devices through the CIFS standard
• Cluster Aware: All components of Northern Storage Suite are now cluster aware.
• Microsoft Excel® Templates: Customizable Microsoft Excel templates enhance reporting, cost projection and billing functionality
• Extended End User Interaction: Two additional report types and enhanced reporting options enhance end user self-management. Reports now include duplicate files and media files, based on true binary file type.
• Optimized Multi-Server Management: One time configuration for multiple server reports and charge-back jobs.

• Real-time Usage Control ¡V storage policies are implemented and enforced using Northern¡¦s Quota Server technology. This eliminates waste, maximizes capacity, and blocks file types to remove the risk of legal exposure and ensure that storage usage is always under control.
• End User Interaction ¡V end users are provided with the knowledge and tools needed to manage their own storage use, reducing help desk calls.
  Full Reporting Functionality ¡V comprehensive reports and trend analysis.
• Automation and Optimization ¡V scheduled/automated operations include, delete, move, copy files, replicate directories or execute programs.
• Spreading Cost Awareness ¡V chargeback technology automates billing based on actual storage use and specific hardware costs.

About NORTHERN
Northern is an international software company specializing in the development of reliable, flexible and easy to use
solutions for Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 storage administration. The company serves a global market through its
two bases of operations, Tampa [FL] and Stockholm [Sweden]. Over 25,000 organizations, in 52 different
countries are using Northern software solutions.