5259 Super DLT tape drive product end of sales announcement

June 23, 2003

The NonStop Enterprise Division (NED) of HP is announcing the end of sales of one model from the Super DLT tape drive product family, the 5259 Super DLT tape drive. This announcement is in response to end of sales announcements by HP’s suppliers of the 5259 Super DLT tape drive product.

This announcement does not affect the continued availability of the other models in the Super DLT tape drive family offered by NED.

StorageTek is the supplier of the 5259 Super DLT tape drive product to Tributary Systems, Inc. (TSI), which is HP’s development partner and direct supplier of this product. StorageTek has announced that it will stop accepting orders for the 5259 Super DLT tape drive on June 30, 2003. HP is currently negotiating with TSI and StorageTek to ensure that a supply of the 5259 Super DLT tape drive product will be available to meet customer demands through December 31, 2003. Although no commitment has yet been made, HP and TSI are confident that product will be available throughDecember 31, 2003. The last date HP will accept orders for the 5259 Super DLT tape drive product isJune 30, 2003, concurrent with the announced last sale date from StorageTek.

Further, NED is announcing plans to offer the HP Ultrium LTO tape drive, packaged for use in a StorageTek L700 tape library (HP product number CTL700), as the replacement product for the 5259 Super DLT tape drive.

Customers need to be aware that the LTO tape is not read/write compatible with Super DLT. In addition, StorageTek has no plans to offer an SDLT-compatible drive for the L700 tape library.

The Ultrium LTO tape drive is a natural fit as the midrange tape drive replacement product for the L700 tape library. Additional announcements to introduce the family of Ultrium LTO tape drives for HP NonStop servers will be forthcoming.

Affected product

5259: Super DLT tape drive for CTL700

Key dates

• Last date to place orders: June 30, 2003
• Anticipated last shipment date: December 31, 2003

February 2003. All product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. The information is subject to change without notice. The warranties for HP products are set forth in the express limited warranty statements accompanying such products. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.