Addonics Announces 4-Drive Serial ATA Disk Array and 4-Port Controller for Integrating SATA RAID into Existing Systems.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 2004

Addonics Technologies today announced a combination 4-drive Serial ATA (SATA) disk array and companion 4-Port RAID controller, which makes integrating high-speed SATA RAID technology an easy and cost-effective option for any PC-compatible system.

The Addonics Disk Array 4SA system accommodates up to four 3.5" SATA hard drives. Each SATA hard drive can be easily secured inside or removed from the Disk Array rack with the aluminum slide-out drive drawers.

The Disk Array 4SA utilizes the latest SATA 1.0-compliant technology with fast 150MB/sec throughput. It enables the hard drives inside the Disk Array to be set up in different configurations using any number of drives: such as RAID 0 (Disk Stripping for high performance) or RAID 1 (disk mirroring and duplexing for fault tolerance); RAID 0+1 using four hard drives; or four independent hard drives.

Users can build a disk array with just one hard drive and then expand as needed. Hard drives can also be hot-swapped to the Disk Array system without turning off or restarting your computer. Each of the four SATA drive drawers in the array also has a point-to-point connection, which requires no cables to make a connection.

The Disk Array 4SA mounts inside any enclosure with three open 5 1/4" drive bays in one stack. It is constructed out of aluminum for durability and efficient heat dissipation. An efficient low noise fan system is also located at the back of the unit to ensure sufficient cooling of any high RPM hard drive. The unit also comes with a buzzer alarm and an LED indicator to provide an alert for too high temperatures and for cooling fan failure.

Drives used in the array can also be used as an external SATA hard drive with the optional Addonics SATA power adapter and external Serial ATA cable.

The Disk Array 4SA can be purchased separately or bundled with the Addonics SATA 4-Port RAID controller. The controller adds four internal SATA ports to a PC-compatible system and supports SATA drives of any capacity. Together with the Addonics Disk Array 4SA system, a high performance and reliable data storage system can be added to any computer at less than half the cost of a traditional SCSI or IDE solution. The solution improves read/write performance and protects data in a variety of media-intensive applications such as video editing and digital production, pre-press applications and small/medium workgroups, corporate branch offices and businesses running sophisticated small-business applications.

The installation of the Disk Array 4SA requires three free 5 1/4 inch drive bays in one stack and a standard four-pin PC power connection or Serial ATA 15-pin power connection. System requirements for the four-port RAID controller includes a Pentium or great equipped system, one free PCI slot; minimum 32 MB RAM; 10 MB minimum free hard disk space; and either DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, NT 4.0, 98SE, Me, or 200XP.

The Addonics Disk Array 4SA (model AE4RCS35NSA) has a list price of $149. The Disk Array with 4-port RAID controller (model AE4RCS35S4C) has a list price of $199.

Addonics products are available through the company online store www.shopaddonics.com, major catalog companies, resellers, VARs and distributors, including StorageUSA.com, Newegg.com, Amazon.com, PC Connection, CDW, Buy.com, Provantage.com, Insight, Ingram Micro, and Ma Labs.

Addonics Technologies Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets a broad line of external storage products. Addonics is headquartered at 2466 Kruse Drive, San Jose, CA 95131, Phone: [phone]. Visit Addonics at www.addonics.com