CMS Launches World's First Internal, Failsafe Restore and Backup Solution for Mobile Professionals.

Business Editors & High-Tech Writers

COSTA MESA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 21, 2002

Internal Version of Award-Winning ABSplus Now Compatible with Compaq,

Dell Notebooks

CMS Peripherals(R) today announced the availability of the internal ABSplus, the industry's first internal restore and backup system designed specifically for the secondary bays of notebook computers.

The internal ABSplus is compatible with Compaq and Dell manufactured notebook computers, with compatibility for other major manufacturers' notebooks forthcoming.

Derived from the same restore and backup technology of the company's award-winning ABSplus, the internal version automatically backs up the host notebook's entire hard drive and instantaneously restores data after a hard drive crash, all with little to no user intervention.

CMS designed the internal ABSplus to save both time and money. The ABSplus provides smooth data recovery without inconvenient and time-consuming procedures like shutting down and restarting systems. Disaster recovery is immediate, ensuring zero downtime. The ability to restore the user's data after a hard drive crash eliminates the cost of entirely replacing the notebook and reduces the expense of repairing the damaged system and retrieving compromised data.

The internal version of the ABSplus can be inserted into the secondary bay of the Compaq Armada M700 and E500; the Compaq EVO N800c, N800v and N600c; the Dell Latitude C500, C600, C800, C810, CPi, CPt and CPx; and the Dell Inspiron 2500, 3700, 3800, 4000, 8000 and 8100, to create a fully bootable restore solution.

Weighing less than seven ounces, the ABSplus adds minimal weight to the host notebook, making it ideal for road warriors who want to minimize external connections and make backup a seamless task.

The inclusion of complete system bootability protects users from interruption of workflow in the event of hard drive failure. In the case of complete hard drive failure, the notebook will automatically switch to the ABSplus system, providing an entirely failsafe solution with zero downtime and virtually no interruption to the user.

If a user's hard drive crashes due to operating system or virus issues, the notebook can be reconfigured through the BIOS and redirected to boot off the internal ABSplus. Users will find all of their applications, configurations and data intact as stored to the ABSplus since the last backup.

Industry analysts are beginning to tout the importance of portable hard drives for the extra security and quick data recovery they provide notebook users.

"The best protection from data loss is a second bootable hard drive," said Nick Allen, vice president of Gartner Inc., a Connecticut-based research firm. "Users should evaluate bootable backup hard drives and balance the extra cost against the cost of a notebook disaster."

"The internal ABSplus is the ultimate restore and backup solution for Windows-based notebooks, unparalleled by anything currently on the market for mobile professionals," said Ken Burke, president of CMS Peripherals.

"This internal solution will instantaneously restore the user's system if the hard drive should fail with little or no user intervention, thus increasing the overall return on investment and life of the notebook."

The new, internal ABSplus is an easy-to-use device controlled by CMS' powerful patent pending backup software. This full-featured solution performs a complete backup of the host notebook's entire hard drive once the ABSplus is installed, just like the award-winning external version.

For ongoing backup maintenance, CMS developed FastSync to monitor the host computer's hard drive for new or changed files. Once it identifies a change, the system backs the files up automatically in the background without affecting overall system performance. The automatic aspect of the ABSplus ensures data stored on the ABSplus is as safe and up-to-date as possible.

Users can also set up a reminder schedule for periodic backups at a designated time. All backed up data stored on the ABSplus is saved in native file format to provide fast, easy data recovery and access.

The internal ABSplus for secondary bays is available in capacities from 20GB to 60GB and can achieve speeds up to four times as fast as PCMCIA and USB 1.1 systems, or comparable to the speed of USB 2.0 and FireWire. It is also hot swappable, allowing users to interchange devices in the secondary bay, such as a CD-ROM, DVD or DVD/CD-RW combo drive.

Availability

The entire line of ABSplus solutions support backup, archival and migration of data with one of the market's lowest total cost of ownership (TCO). The new, internal notebook ABSplus is now shipping with a 3-year warranty in capacities of 20GB, 30GB, 40GB and 60GB solutions. Pricing starts at $349. The new ABSplus units are compatible with Windows 98/Me/2000 and XP.

Solutions are available through major distributors, corporate resellers, mail order and direct from the company's Web site, www.cmsproducts.com.

About CMS Products

With more than 4 million CMS storage solutions installed in more than 90 countries, the complete line of CMS mass storage products include automatic backup solutions for both notebooks and desktops, notebook hard drive upgrades and data transfer kits and high-capacity desktop hard drives.

For more information, contact CMS Peripherals, 3095 Redhill Ave, Costa Mesa, Calif., 92626; Phone: [phone] or 714/424-5520; Fax: [phone]; or visit CMS' Web site at: www.cmsproducts.com.

Note to Editors: CMS Peripherals Inc. is a registered trademark. ABS is a trademark of CMS. Any other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.