Ariel Unveils CompactPCI RAS Products For OEMs and Systems Integrators Targeting Large Enterprises, ISPs, LECs, and CLECs.

CRANBURY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 12, 1998 --

First Member Of Family Provides 60 Ports Of 56K/ISDN

Remote Access On A Single CompactPCI Card

Ariel Corp. (NASDAQ:ADSP) announces a family of industrial strength remote access products utilizing the CompactPCI (cPCI) form factor.

The first member of the family, named the RS2000C, combines 60 ports of 56K/ISDN remote access with a dual T1/E1/PRI (Primary Rate ISDN) interface on a single cPCI card. Future cPCI products will include line cards, high-density modem pools, and integrated solutions that combine the line card and modem pool functions.

"Our CompactPCI products provide an industrial strength solution for OEMs who want to build rugged, high-availability, scaleable remote access systems utilizing industry standard hardware and software platforms," remarked Ariel president Brian Hoerl. "CompactPCI systems running Windows NT and Unix are fast becoming the RAS platforms of choice for OEMs targeting large enterprises, ISPs, LECs and CLECs."

Added Brad Baldwin, an analyst at IDC, "CompactPCI makes a great platform for quickly configuring reliable, scaleable, open architecture RAS servers, especially when used in harsh environments where space is at a premium. High-density cPCI RAS solutions like Ariel's RS2000C are well positioned to address this emerging market."

The RS2000C is a rack-mountable cPCI card that gives Windows NT and UNIX servers the physical connections needed for remote dial-in and LAN dial-out. Combining 30 Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU) V.90 56-kbps modems with a dual T1/E1/PRI interface, the RS2000C supports up to 60 simultaneous remote access sessions originating from digital 64-kbps basic rate ISDN and analog 56-kbps and 33.6-kbps customer premises equipment.

The RS2000C provides a single remote access call-in number that greatly simplifies remote access installation and administration. The RS2000C automatically detects the type of customer premises equipment initiating the call (digital Basic Rate ISDN or analog modem) and routes it to the appropriate modem or HDLC controller. Support for autorate fallbacks enables the RS2000C to operate at the highest speed supported by the subscriber modem.

The RS2000C is fully scaleable, utilizing a rack-mountable design that makes it easy for OEMs to build inexpensive, high-capacity remote access servers that occupy minimal space. A standard cPCI chassis fully populated with 10 RS2000Cs can accommodate up to 20 T1/E1/PRI lines, enough to support 600 simultaneous remote access sessions. Similarly, a standard six-foot rack containing eight cPCI chassis each fully-populated with 10 RS2000Cs can handle 160 T1/E1/PRI lines, enough to support 4800 remote access sessions.

The RS2000C provides an out-of-the-box solution for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows NT Server that leverages built-in NT Routing and Remote Access Services (RRAS). Among these are: -0-

     Multi-protocol routing (MPR), which allows the RS2000C to support
     Windows, OS/2, Mac, and Unix remote users.

     Multi-link PPP (MLPPP), which allows RS2000C ports to be
     aggregated for higher dial-in or dial-out bandwidth.

     Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), which allows the
     RS2000C to function as a Virtual Private Networking (VPN) device.

     Microsoft point-to-point compression (MPPC), which boosts
     performance by enabling remote clients to transmit data at higher
     rates over a fixed-bandwidth channel.

     Strong authentication and encryption security features, including
     support RADIUS, PAP, CHAP, and MS-CHAP user authentication and
     40/128-bit RSA RC4 encryption.

-0-

The RS2000C also utilizes standard NT control panel facilities that make it easy to install and integrate with the enterprise. Once installed, standard NT facilities also make the RS2000C easy to administer, either locally from the corporate LAN, or remotely from a modem or ISDN dial-in client.

To simplify integration with other popular host operating systems, such as SCO Unix and Sun Microsystems' (NASDAQ:SUNW) Solaris, the RS2000C also includes a Driver Development Kit (DDK).

The RS2000C meets all U.S. and Canadian safety, and RFI/EMI standards, including FCC part 15 Class A, FCC part 68, UL 1950, CSA C22.2 No. 950, and IEC-003 Class A. The RS2000C is CE Marked for sales to European Union countries and complies with the Australian ACA (C-tick and A-tick) standard.

The RS2000C is available immediately. Please call Ariel Corp. for pricing information.

More on Ariel

Ariel Corp. (NASDAQ:ADSP) offers the most cost effective and highest density remote access data solutions for open systems platforms. Ariel's Open RAS products are used in medium and large enterprises, ISPs, and small/medium offices to support telecommuting and provide remote access to the Internet, corporate intranets and extranets, on-line services, and unified messaging. Ariel's central site modem pools are also used in transaction processing equipment to provide remote data base access for applications such as credit card verification and forms retrieval.

Ariel is the only company currently shipping high-density V.90 56K central-site modem cards for open systems PC and Unix platforms. The company's high-density modem pools are available in ISA Bus, PCI, and CompactPCI (cPCI) form factors, support V.90 56K, V.34, and ISDN remote access, and connect to T1, E1, ISDN, and POTS lines. Ariel's Open RAS products are used by leading RAS OEMs, system integrators, ISPs, transaction processing equipment suppliers, and end users worldwide, including Attachmate, Barnes and Noble, Cabletron, Compaq, the United Bank of Switzerland, RAScom and TNS.

For more information on Ariel products, please contact Ariel Corp. at 2540 Route 130, Cranbury, N.J. 08512. Phone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]. Email: [e-mail]. Web: www.ariel.com.

Ariel, Open RAS, and RS2000C are trademarks or tradenames of Ariel. All other trademarks or tradenames are the property of their respective owners.