AMI Announces FlexRAID and MegaRAID Ultra Disk Array Controller Now Widely Available.ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 30, 1997-- -- AMI's Exclusive Technology Delivers Unprecedented Flexibility and Expandability -- Editorial Summary -- MegaRAID with FlexRAID is the same RAID technology that has gotten leading OEM's some of the best benchmarks and results on the planet is now available to the open market. -- This is the only true ON LINE capacity expansion because all other RAID controllers require that the system go off-line to reconfigure. MegaRAID with FlexRAID means NO network down time. American Megatrends American Megatrends Incorporated (AMI) is a Georgia, USA based hardware company that creates PC hardware and firmware. It was founded in 1985 by the current chairman and president, S. Shankar. , Inc. (AMI) further strengthened the flexibility and manageability of its MegaRAID product line by including AMI's exclusive FlexRAID(TM) technology with each MegaRAID(TM) Ultra Controller shipped. Previously, the advanced FlexRAID technology used for on-line capacity expansion was only available to major OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) The rebranding of equipment and selling it. The term initially referred to the company that made the products (the "original" manufacturer), but eventually became widely used to refer to the organization that buys the products and customers. FlexRAID offers a powerful and flexible means of managing a RAID system. With this dynamic new technology adding drives to an array no longer requires a system reboot To reload the operating system, which restarts the computer. See boot. (operating system) reboot - (From boot) A boot with the implication that the computer has not been down for long, or that the boot is a bounce intended to clear some state of wedgitude. See warm boot. . FlexRAID also enables the system administrator to change RAID levels on-the-fly, without having to reboot. This not only avoids costly down time, but also improves performance by allowing a change from degraded to optimal operation. Some of the specific on-line changes made available through FlexRAID software are: -- Degraded Logical Drive (RAID 5, 3, or 1) to Optimal RAID 0 -- RAID 5 Logical Drive to RAID 3 -- RAID 3 Logical Drive to RAID 5 -- RAID 0 to RAID 1, 3, or 5 -- RAID 1 to RAID 3 or 5 -- Addition or Removal of Physical Drive from Logical Drive Array "In the past almost any change to an array required a system reboot, but with FlexRAID expensive downtime becomes a thing of the past." stated Sanjay Sehgal, MegaRAID Product Engineering Manager. "Combine FlexRAID's flexibility, MegaRAID Ultra's superior performance, and AMI's advanced RAID management software and you have a RAID solution that is unmatched in the industry." The MegaRAID Ultra controller stands as the flagship product A primary product of a company, which is typically why the company was founded and/or what made it well known. For example, MS-DOS, Windows and the Microsoft Office suite have been flagship products of Microsoft. CorelDRAW is a flagship product of Corel Corporation. of the MegaRAID line of products. It supports more fault tolerant The ability to continue non-stop when a hardware failure occurs. A fault-tolerant system is designed from the ground up for reliability by building multiples of all critical components, such as CPUs, memories, disks and power supplies into the same computer. RAID levels than any other RAID solution and delivers superior performance through a tight hardware design. AMI's Advanced ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) Pronounced "a-sick." A chip that is custom designed for a specific application rather than a general-purpose chip such as a microprocessor. generates RAID parity, freeing up Intel's i960CA(TM) RISC Processor RISC processor [Reduced Instruction Set Computer], computer arithmetic-logic unit that uses a minimal instruction set, emphasizing the instructions used most often and optimizing them for the fastest possible execution. , for additional processing. Up to three Fast-20 channels are available on the MegaRAID Ultra, with each channel powered by a Symbios Logic Symbios Logic was a manufacturer of SCSI host adapter chipsets and disk array storage subsystems. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Electronics America. It was originally a division of NCR Corporation, before NCR's takeover by AT&T. AT&T sold off the division to Hyundai. 53C770 SCSI SCSI in full Small Computer System Interface Once common standard for connecting peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, etc.) to small and medium-sized computers. SCSI has given way to faster standards, such as Firewire and USB. processor. A cache capacity of 128 MB coupled with an extensive caching policy further augments MegaRAID Ultra's performance, and in case of a cache failure a battery backup module with a life of up to 72 hours is available. Also integrated onto the MegaRAID Ultra is a flash ROM to facilitate easy upgrades. In addition to FlexRAID, MegaRAID Ultra comes equipped with several additional utilities and features that enhance its ease of use and performance. These include: -- MegaRAID Power Console and Power Console Client - Object oriented GUI (Graphical User Interface) A graphics-based user interface that incorporates movable windows, icons and a mouse. The ability to resize application windows and change style and size of fonts are the significant advantages of a GUI vs. a character-based interface. for Windows NT 3.x or 4.x. Allows the creation and management of multiple disk arrays and RAID servers. Client versions operates under Windows NT 3.x, 4.x and Windows '95, it can control NT 3.x/4.x, Netware 3.x/4.x, SCO Unix and OS/2 Servers. Non GUI version available for other operating systems. -- MegaRAID Boot-Up Configuration - Exclusive MegaRAID technology that enables full RAID system setup before boot-up without going to any operating system. Accessed through a single keystroke key·stroke n. A stroke of a key, as on a word processor. key  stroke . -- Optimized Firmware and Drivers - Increased performance through highly optimized firmware. Drivers for Novell NetWare 3.x/4.x, Banyan Vines 6.x/7.x, Windows NT 3.x/4.0, Windows 95, SCO Unix 4.3.2, and ODT See SCO Open Desktop. ODT - Open Desktop 5.x, UnixWare 1.x/2.x, OS/2 2.x and Warp, DOS/ASPI, NextStep, and Windows NT for Alpha -- To further enhance MegaRAID's management capabilities a series of optional utilities are available: -- Cluster Ready - MegaRAID Ultra is the industries only Cluster Ready RAID Adapter. Optional firmware available that offers multi-initiator support. Helps provide high availability by allowing server failure. -- SMARTer Technology - Self Monitoring and Reporting Technology with Error Recovery. Option that enables data recovery through RAID re-mapping and on-line physical drive migration. -- General Alert - Optional watchdog program that notifies the administrator in the even of an emergency condition. Notification possible through pagers, program execution, audio signal, visual icon, SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) A widely used network monitoring and control protocol. Data are passed from SNMP agents, which are hardware and/or software processes reporting activity in each network device (hub, router, bridge, etc. trap, e-mail, or system log entry. -- Enclosure Management - Optional package that offers graphical representation of a subsystem with extensive monitoring capabilities. Supports SAF-TE SAF-TE SCSI Access Fault-Tolerant Enclosure , AMI fault bus, RS232C connector, DEC fault bus MegaRAID serves as the technology leading RAID controller onboard the servers of leading companies. Additional information on MegaRAID can be attaining by calling 1-800-828-9264 or visiting the MegaRAID web site at http://www.megaraid.com. In over half the computers in the world, American Megatrends specializes in creating superior, system level technologies including desktop BIOS, mobile BIOS, RAID products, motherboards, and utilities. For additional information, AMI can be reached at 800/U-BUY-AMI or 770/246-8600 and on the World Wide Web at http://www.ami.com. CONTACT: AMI Marketing Manager Joe Leader, 770/246-8677 800/828-9264 FAX 770/246-8790 email: joe@ami.com |
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