Press Release

Isilon IQ Powers Data Storage For Next-Generation DNA Sequencing

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Deploys Isilon Clustered Storage to Manage Rapid Genomic Data Expansion, Enabling Five-Fold Data Growth

SEATTLE, WA - September 15, 2008 - Isilon® Systems (NASDAQ: ISLN), the leader in clustered storage, today announced that the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, one of the world's leading genomics and biomedical research institutes, has deployed Isilon IQ clustered storage to streamline mission-critical data access and utilization in its next-generation DNA sequencing workflow. With Isilon IQ, the Broad Institute has accelerated its high-performance workflow while also supporting a five-fold increase in the volume of genomic data that can be analyzed and stored, enabling researchers to devote precious time and resources into groundbreaking biomedical research.

"Applications of next-generation DNA sequencing at the Broad Institute and elsewhere require an unprecedented amount of data to be stored and managed in a high-performance research and bioinformatics pipeline," said Matthew Trunnell, Manager of Research Computing at the Broad Institute. "With Isilon IQ, we've been able to grow a single file system to nearly a Petabyte in less than a year, while still maintaining the data throughput necessary to power our workflow and advance our research."

The data growth and performance needs of DNA sequencing have changed rapidly and unexpectedly, driven by a recent flurry of next-generation technologies. To maintain research productivity, traditional storage systems need to adapt to meet the intense performance and capacity demands of these new technologies. Without a unified and flexible storage repository, institutions may be forced to spread their data across multiple, disparate silos of information, creating unnecessary barriers to data access and analysis.

Deploying Isilon IQ, with its OneFS® operating system software, enables researchers to unify their genomic data into a single, high-performance, highly scalable shared pool of data. Today, instruments at the Broad Institute generate terabytes per day of DNA sequence and related data, which must then be analyzed. Using Isilon clustered storage, this data can be directly stored and analyzed, enabling the Institute's scientists to access, process and store genomic data from one, easily accessible and highly reliable central storage repository.

"In today's next-generation genomic sequencing research, the rate at which data is created and analyzed can accelerate by the month - or by the day. To stay ahead of data growth and maximize the value of this truly mission-critical information, research institutions must be able to efficiently store, access and analyze this data at an unprecedented rate," said Steve Fitz, Senior Vice President, Global Field Operations, Isilon Systems. "The Broad Institute is at the leading-edge of using the latest advances in both genomic sequencing technology and clustered storage to create the biomedical breakthroughs that can transform medicine as we know it."

Powered by OneFS, Isilon IQ X-Series delivers the industry's first single file system that unifies and provides instant and ubiquitous access to the rapidly growing stores of file-based data, setting the standard for scale out file storage. OneFS is a unified operating system software layer that powers all of Isilon's award-winning IQ family of clustered storage systems including the Isilon IQ 1920, 3000, 6000, 9000, 12000, Accelerator-x, and EX 6000, 9000 and 12000. Isilon also provides a robust suite of software applications including SnapshotIQ®, SmartConnect™, SmartQuotas™, and SyncIQ® that leverage OneFS and clustered storage, providing the highest levels of data protection and automated data management.

About Isilon Systems

Isilon Systems (NASDAQ: ISLN) is the worldwide leader in clustered storage systems and software for file-based data, enabling enterprises to transform data into information - and information into breakthroughs. Isilon's award-winning family of IQ clustered storage systems combines Isilon's OneFS operating system software with the latest advances in industry-standard hardware to deliver modular, pay-as-you-grow, enterprise-class storage systems. Isilon's clustered storage solutions speed access to critical business information while dramatically reducing the cost and complexity of storing it. Information about Isilon can be found at http://www.isilon.com.

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