AMI Introduces an Affordable Solution to the Management Needs of Servers and Server Blades.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 2003

Editorial Summary

-- AMI introduces MegaRAC Platform Manager (PM), an IPMI 1.5 compliant Baseboard Management Controller (BMC).

-- AMI's Unified Management Server (UMS) provides a single point of administration for multiple servers, communicating with the BMC and activating enhanced IPMI 1.5 features in AMIBIOS.

-- A demo will be presented at Asia Pacific Intel Developer Forum, Spring 2003 in Taiwan (April 13-15, 2003).

American Megatrends Inc. (AMI), a leader in storage and computing innovations worldwide, introduces a complete server management solution for server and embedded motherboards based on the IPMI 1.5 management standard.

MegaRAC(R) Platform Manager (PM) is a complete, highly integrated management solution that will add high availability features to server motherboards. MegaRAC PM is based on the Baseboard Management Controller (AMIBMC) and on easily portable management firmware that implements the IPMI v.1.5 standard developed by Intel, HP, NEC and Dell.

The MegaRAC PM monitors and controls the system and chassis subsystems, sending alerts and triggering correcting actions like reset and boot from a service partition.

With MegaRAC PM, system administrators can remotely control a server system even when it is in non-operational state, performing a series of critical functions:

-- View and set thresholds for individual health parameters such

as voltages, temperatures and fans and monitoring of the

chassis subsystems;

-- Management of sensors and Field Replaceable Units (FRU);

-- Remote Control and Auto Server Recovery by setting a watchdog

timer;

-- Remote launch of diagnostic/recovery services.

MegaRAC PM is based on an intelligent controller featuring a dedicated processor and memory. The controller features a dedicated serial interface and an optional Ethernet NIC for true out-of-band functionality.

The MegaRAC PM firmware is developed on a Real Time Operating System (RTOS) that abstracts the underlying hardware and can easily be ported on different chips. The MegaRAC PM firmware provides system and board management, utilizing the Intelligent Platform Management Bus (IPMB) to access any other controller within a chassis and to manage the Field Replaceable Units (FRU). The communication between different chassis is provided through the Intelligent Chassis Management Bus (ICMB), granting access to multiple devices.

MegaRAC PM is an affordable answer to the high-availability needs of server and server blades, that in today's 24/7 environment must provide continuous service in order to minimize downtime for mission-critical applications.

The web-based Unified Management Server (UMS) software provides manageability of multiple devices from a single station. Multiple communication protocols are supported. The software is portable to any operating system and is highly interoperable. Based on Java2EE, UMS can operate on a number of platforms, such as Windows NT, 2000, XP or Linux.

UMS discovers, configures, monitors, reports and manages events for all the nodes on a LAN. When used in conjunction with AMIBIOS8 and the AMIBMC, UMS provides advanced IPMI functions such as video redirection and BIOS/firmware flashing.

"Our experience in BIOS and service processors is a strong plus, allowing AMI to offer a complete solution for server platform manageability. MegaRAC PM enables OEMs to develop interoperable, remotely manageable systems that can be accessed under all system phases: power-down, pre-boot, OS load and run-time," said Mike Shields, AMI Global Software Sales Manager.

Selected customers have pre-viewed the AMI management solutions at a seminar organized by AMI Taiwan, expressing favorable comments.

About AMI

Founded in 1985, American Megatrends Inc. (AMI) has dedicated its resources to providing OEMs, resellers and systems integrators with leading edge computer technologies. Privately held, AMI is best known for its AMIBIOS, but it also supplies state-of-the-art hardware, software and utilities to over 55 percent of today's high-tech manufacturers. AMI offers high-density motherboards, disk subsystems and innovative storage solutions and is a voting member of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). Headquartered in Atlanta, AMI has locations in the U.S. and throughout the world including Chennai, Munich, Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo to better serve its customers.

For more information on AMI products and services, call 1-800-U-BUY-AMI or visit www.ami.com.

Statement of Liability: Product specifications are subject to change without notice. AMIBIOS, AMIDiag and AMIBIOS8 are trademarks or registered trademarks of American Megatrends, Inc. Other products mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. American Megatrends reserves the right to update, change and/or modify these products at anytime. o any such st