Formation of WW Academic Research Partnership

DataDirect Networks, Inc. announced the formation of the DDN Worldwide Academic Research
Partnership (WARP), a global program focused on scientific advancement and
insight through the exploration of novel approaches to big data analysis,
Exascale processing, cloud computing, memory-class storage and other emerging
developments in HPC.

The program will provide a framework for collaboration and the sharing of ideas
between DDN, its customers, and the development community.

"For
more than 12 years, DDN’s leading-edge storage solutions for content-intensive
computing have helped universities around the world redefine the boundaries of
science and research," said Alex Bouzari, CEO and co-founder, DDN.
"With WARP, we will accelerate the
incredible changes of the big data era by bringing together the best minds in
our industry, and also by providing needed support to the next generation of
groundbreaking researchers."

In conjunction with the WARP program, the
company also announced $100,000 in annual prizes to recognize emerging
scientific breakthroughs enabled by technology, including a $75,000 first prize
and a $25,000 second prize each year. A WARP board of advisors will be
established to influence the direction of the program and to select the
annual WARP Prize winners.

"DDN
has been a key strategic partner in helping TACC build one of the world’s
leading HPC centers, and we are pleased to partner with DDN to encourage
innovation in academic environments everywhere," said Jay Boisseau, director
of the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at
Austin. "By providing a forum for
institutions at the forefront of the big data era, and by helping to fund the
next generation of innovation, DDN has illustrated its commitment to our
industry and to continuing its role as a thought leader in HPC."

"We
work with DDN today because their technology leadership is a good match with
our vision of research and enabling HPC collaboration," said Daniel
Gruner, CTO, software, at the SciNet HPC Consortium at the University of
Toronto. "The WARP Program is a
natural fit for DDN and the premier sites in the field of Academic Research."

"DDN
became a leader in HPC by thinking 3, 5, or even 10 years into the future,"
said George Jones, DDN’s director of strategic sales and higher education.
"We truly understand the value of
research data being created in university settings, and our goal is to help
researchers spend more time doing research and less time worrying if their data
is safe and secure."

Further details on WARP’s annual prize will
be made available on in December.