ATG Cygnet launches world's fastest, highest capacity optical disk drive; availability of compact six-disk autochanger also announced for 100-GByte document management, multimedia markets.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 15, 1997--The world's fastest and highest capacity optical disk drive was formally introduced today by ATG Cygnet S.A., continuing the French company's technical leadership in optical storage subsystems.

The VFD 16000 12-inch WORM drive delivers 16 GB of on-line storage, with performance extended by dual read/write heads. The company also announced U.S. availability of its compact Hexadisc mini-library, which adds five near-line disks in a removable cartridge for a total subsystem capacity of 96 GB. Both products are being demonstrated at the 1997 AIIM conference here this week.

The VFD 16000's average transfer rate of 3.3 MB per second is the highest in the industry, according to Patrice Langlade, vice president of research and development. With an average seek time of 80 milliseconds and an average latency of 29 milliseconds, the new drive is expected to have a major impact on document imaging and multimedia applications.

The new drive is backward compatible with earlier ATG jukeboxes. The company's open robotic strategy also enables the integration of other manufacturers' dual-head drives and media with the Hexadisc library.

Designed for OEMs and resellers, the drive's SCSI-2 controller facilitates integration to software applications.

"The pricing of VFD 16000 and Hexadisc autochanger makes the products extremely competitive in the 100 GB market," said Gerard Jouglat, vice president of sales.

For single-quantity evaluation units, the VFD 16000 drive is priced at $42,000, while the Hexadisc changer is $44,000. The dual-sided 16 GB media is $800.

The VFD 16000 drive takes its place at the head of an ATG product line that already features the highest capacity (10.2 GB) single-head drive. The VFD 16000 launches a major new route for dual-head drives on a technology roadmap that is capable of 60 GB per disk early in the next decade, explained Bernard Meffre, president.

For network applications ATG has partnered with Italy's I.A.N. to provide a Wave Optical Package that renders the VFD 16000 transparent to network protocols and enables operation across multi-net environments.

The standard-setting drive has undergone beta testing at sites such as Dorotech, which successfully integrated the Hexadisc library in a banking application.

ATG Cygnet, which has headquarters in Toulouse, France, has been a major international supplier of mass storage solutions since 1987. The company's OEM and VAR customers include AT&T Comvault, BULL, DST Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Northrop Grumman, PRC, Siemens NIXDORF, Unisys and WANG.

The company's manufacturing facility in Toulouse is ISO 9001 certified.

CONTACT: Lages & Associates, Irvine, Calif.

Allison Engler, 714/453-8080

or

ATG Cygnet, Toulouse

Brigitte DUPUY, 33.5.62.14.21.02