Augment Unveils New, Lower-Cost AFX 410 Storage Servers System Price Reductions Reflect Storage Economies, Fibre Channel Acceptance.WESTFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 12, 1998--Augment Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on Small Cap: AUGS AUGS American Urogynecologic Society ) today announced two new configurations of its AFX-410 file server that give lightning-fast file access of up to 200 gigabytes of centralized storage at Fibre Channel speeds to as few as three or as many as 25 users. In addition, Augment said it is aggressively pricing complete systems, starting at just over $50,000, to give more users in a wide range of prepress environments access to its highly efficient approach to Storage Area Networking. Augment delivers benchmark file transfer speeds of 12 MB per second over Fibre Channel as compared to typical 100baseT Ethernet file transfer speeds of 1 MB per second. The new Augment AFX AFX atypical fibroxanthoma. 410E Enterprise Storage Server and AFX 410W Workgroup Storage Server retain the high-performance processing and ANSI-standard Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop (hardware, standard) Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop - (FC-AL) A fast serial bus interface standard intended to replace SCSI on high-end servers. FC-AL has a number of advantages over SCSI. (FC-AL (Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop) See Fibre Channel. FC-AL - Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop. ) technology of the original AFX 410 they replace, while featuring new, high-capacity 9-gigabyte disk drives. The AFX 410E Enterprise Storage Server is an ideal storage server solution to improve productivity in large prepress environments. It provides direct connection of up to 25 Macintosh and Windows NT (Windows New Technology) A 32-bit operating system from Microsoft for Intel x86 CPUs. NT is the core technology in Windows 2000 and Windows XP (see Windows). Available in separate client and server versions, it includes built-in networking and preemptive multitasking. clients, in any combination, to as much as 200GB of RAID level 3 file storage via a dedicated, high-speed Storage Area Network (SAN) based on FC-AL technology. The entry-level AFX 410W Workgroup Storage Server is aimed at small to medium prepress environments and delivers from 16GB to 82GB of RAID level 3 file storage via Augment's dedicated FC-AL SAN to any mix of between three and 10 Macintosh and Windows NT clients. "With the AFX 410E and AFX 410W, Augment now provides Storage Area Networking solutions for a wide range of prepress establishments," says Doug Gowell, Director of Marketing, Augment. "The AFX 410E Enterprise Storage Server is an ideal storage server to improve productivity in large prepress environments, while the affordable new AFX 410W Workgroup Storage Server gives users at even small prepress shops and departments access to Augment's Fibre Channel technology," says Gowell. "An Augment FC-AL SAN can free literally thousands of production hours wasted annually by users waiting for large files to be transferred over conventional networks," he adds. Fibre Channel acceptance drives price reductions Substantial system price reductions compared to the original AFX 410 reflect lower prices for both disk storage and Fibre Channel interfaces. "When the use of Fibre Channel technology was limited, hardware costs were high. But with Fibre Channel rapidly gaining acceptance, costs have been dropping due to manufacturing economies of scale," explains Gowell. "We're passing those savings on to our customers in the form of lower initial system costs and in lower prices for adding Fibre Channel interfaces for Macintosh and Windows NT clients." The AFX 410E Enterprise Storage Server delivers up to 200GB of RAID level 3 file storage via a dedicated, high-speed Storage Area Network (SAN) based on ANSI-standard Fibre Channel- Arbitrated Loop A ring topology used in Fibre Channel. Up to 127 devices may be attached in the loop, but only two can communicate at the same time, reflecting the channel nature of Fibre Channel technology. technology. The AFX 410E provides direct connection of up to 25 Macintosh and Windows NT clients in any combination. Prices for a turnkey AFX 410E system with 33GB of user storage start at just over $70,000. The AFX 410W Workgroup Storage Server delivers up to 82GB of RAID level 3 file storage via a dedicated, high-speed SAN based on ANSI (American National Standards Institute, New York, www.ansi.org) A membership organization founded in 1918 that coordinates the development of U.S. voluntary national standards in both the private and public sectors. It is the U.S. member body to ISO and IEC. standard Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop technology. The AFX 410W provides direct connection of any combination of up to 10 Macintosh or Windows NT clients. In addition, the AFX 410W can be field-upgraded to the storage and client capacity of an AFX 410E. Prices for turnkey AFX 410W systems with 16GB of user storage start at just over $50,000. Each of the new AFX 410 configurations comes complete with system software, Fibre Channel optical hub, Fibre Channel interfaces (PCI (1) (Payment Card Industry) See PCI DSS. (2) (Peripheral Component Interconnect) The most widely used I/O bus (peripheral bus). board and software) for three Macintosh or Windows NT clients, 56K modem for remote diagnostics Vehicle Diagnostics Vehicle diagnostics enables a mechanic to diagnose the exact mechanical condition of the vehicle and its systems and components. Remote Diagnostics enables to perform such diagnosis without requiring the vehicle to physically be present for checkup. , admin console, and Smart-UPS power back-up. In addition, both of the new configurations apply to the cooperative marketing agreement announced in mid-February by Augment Systems and Shira Computers Ltd. This agreement allows each company internationally to market, sell and support integrated solutions for digital prepress workflows based on complementary Augment and Shira products. Augment has received orders for both of the new storage server configurations. Deliveries of the AFX 410W with 4G-byte drives have begun; Augment will begin shipping AFX systems with 9G-byte drives in April. "Augmented" Storage Area Networking Augment's implementation of Fibre Channel technology for graphic arts graphic arts: see aquatint; drawing; drypoint; engraving; etching; illustration; linoleum block printing; lithography; mezzotint; niello; pastel; poster; silk-screen printing; silhouette; silverpoint; sketch; stencil; woodcut and wood engraving. prepress environments improves on the concept of Storage Area Networking by combining high-capacity storage in the file server with FC-AL technology to provide a direct, high-speed connection to Macintosh and Windows NT workstations that augments the user's existing LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. . Providing a separate high-speed link to connect storage to the devices that require fast throughput gives the application server and users at high-performance workstations immediate access to the large data and image files they need. The Augment approach also greatly improves the bandwidth on the LAN for the smaller file traffic it was designed to handle. Augment Systems, Inc. is a leader in the development of Storage Area Networking solutions for the management of large image and data files. Founded in 1990, the company pioneered the development and integration of cross platform, high performance file serving with Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop technology, resulting in a new paradigm New Paradigm In the investing world, a totally new way of doing things that has a huge effect on business. Notes: The word "paradigm" is defined as a pattern or model, and it has been used in science to refer to a theoretical framework. for the storage and transfer of large files. The Company's initial target markets are the electronic publishing An umbrella term for non-paper publishing, which includes publishing online or on media such as CDs and DVDs. , digital photographic editing and geographic information systems (GIS) markets. -0- This release contains forward-looking statements that describe the Company's business prospects. These statements involve risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to vary. These risks and uncertainties are listed in the Company's SEC filings, particularly in Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. filed on November 14, 1997 and the initial public offering prospectus dated May 12, 1997. Augment is a trademark of Augment Systems, Inc. All other brand names, trademarks, and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Additional information is available from Augment's Web site at http://www.augment-systems.com CONTACT: Augment Systems, Inc. Doug Gowell, 978/392-8626 or Technical Media Relations Contact: Hebert Communications John Hebert, 617/232-1161 or Investor Relations Investor relations The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors. Counsel: The Equity Group Loren Goldstein, 212/836-9604 |
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