BusLogic Announces Family of Ultra SCSI Host Adapters Optimized for Server Environments; Three New 16- and 8-Bit Ultra SCSI Adapters Provide Improved Performance for PCI-Based, I O Intensive Server Environments.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 1996--BusLogic Inc. today announced three new 16- and 8-bit Ultra SCSI host adapters supporting breakthrough I/O data rates of up to 40 megabytes per second (MB/sec).

These new Ultra SCSI- and PCI 2.1-compliant host adapters are ideal solutions for file servers and other I/O-intensive environments demanding the highest available SCSI performance with high data throughput and low CPU utilization. The three new BusLogic Ultra SCSI host adapters are the 16-bit Ultra Wide BT-958; 16-bit Ultra Wide BT-958D with differential termination; and the 8-bit BT-948. Differential termination provides higher noise immunity on the SCSI bus, allowing for longer cable lengths and better connectivity at Ultra SCSI speeds.

All three host adapters include performance features optimized for I/O intensive server environments using the latest generation of BusLogic's field-proven MultiMaster technology. This fully intelligent bus master design features an on-board high-performance I/O processor which offloads SCSI management tasks from the system CPU in heavily loaded server environments. The new adapters require less than one interrupt per command for enhanced performance in multi-drive, multi-tasking environments, and provide such features as command tag queuing for efficient drive utilization, memory mapped I/O with support for up to 255 concurrent I/O requests per card, and fully automated scatter/gather support for up to 8,192 segments per command. These features enable Ultra SCSI I/O throughput in server environments with more efficient use of host CPU resources.

A full device driver suite provides embedded support for all major network and desktop operating systems, and ensures backward compatibility with all BusLogic MultiMaster family drivers. These adapters offer full compatibility with all SCSI-1, SCSI-2 and SCSI-3 devices including hard disk drives, CD-ROMs, magneto-optical tape drives and scanners.

"Unlike other general purpose adapters on the market today, BusLogic has designed these adapters from the ground up for I/O intensive server environments," said Julian Elliott, vice president of marketing for BusLogic. "The additional performance features enabled by Ultra SCSI, coupled with our latest generation MultiMaster technology, make these adapters the unsurpassed performance solution for servers. In conjunction with our new FlashPoint family of host adapters targeted at high-performance Intel-based workstations, BusLogic now offers Ultra SCSI solutions optimized for both desktop and server markets."

"Seagate anticipates that Ultra SCSI will be a key enabling technology in the server market as performance demands continue to increase," said Gary Gentry, director of marketing and planning for Seagate Technology. "Users can easily transition from their legacy SCSI systems to Ultra SCSI, effectively doubling the servers' peak I/O throughput levels. High-performance Ultra SCSI host adapters, such as BusLogic's BT-948 and BT-958, are vital to maintaining high throughput between the PCI bus and client Ultra SCSI devices like Seagate's new Hawk 2XL, Barracuda 4LP, and Barracuda 9 disk drives."

About Ultra SCSI

Ultra SCSI is a parallel SCSI interface which doubles the maximum data transfer rate to 40 MB/sec on 16- bit buses and 20 MB/sec on 8-bit buses through the use of a data compression technique that halves the amount of time provided for a data transfer. Fully supporting the SCSI-3 draft standard, BusLogic's Ultra SCSI implementation offers a variety of benefits, including:

    - SmartTERM programmable termination for ease of device
      installation
    - AutoSCSI automatic device configuration for easy
      installation
    - Improved command interfaces to specialized devices such as
      CD-ROM drives
    - Support for up to 15 SCSI devices and 64 logical unit
      numbers (LUNs, or device IDs)
    - Plug and Play with SCAM Level 1 compliance
    - Backward compatibility with all SCSI-2 and SCSI-1 devices,
      and
    - Flash-based programmable read-only memories (PROMs) for
      microcode storage.Family of Host Adapters

The new BusLogic Ultra SCSI host adapters complement the recently-announced BusLogic FlashPoint LT Ultra SCSI host adapters for power desktop systems and LAN server environments, providing users with a wide spectrum of compatible, high-performance SCSI host adapter solutions.

Pricing and Availability

The new BusLogic 16-bit BT-958 and BT-958D devices will be available at list prices of $289 and $459, respectively. The 8-bit BT-948 Ultra SCSI host adapter will be available at a list price of $229. All three adapters are available immediately. The kit version will be available at the end of March.

About BusLogic

Founded in 1988, BusLogic is a leading supplier of high-performance bus mastered SCSI host adapters for desktop PCs and network servers. Buslogic is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mylex Corporation (NASDAQ: MYLX), a leading producer of RAID technology and network management products. All BusLogic products are used by OEMs, systems integrators and VARs, and are available worldwide directly from BusLogic or through distributors and resellers. All products are backed by a responsive and flexible customer support organization. BusLogic is headquartered at 4151 Burton Drive, Santa Clara, California. -0-

Note to Editors: Product and company names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

CONTACT: BusLogic Inc.

Elyse Phillips/Julian Elliott, 408/492-9090

http://www.buslogic.com

or

Walt & Co. Communications

Lynne Wall/Paige Burgess, 408/496-0900

[e-mail]