Cambex Announces High Speed Fibre Channel Adapter Card for Building Flexible Storage Area Networks.

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 1998--

The FibreQuik(TM) PC1000 PCI-to-Fibre Channel Host Bus Adapter 

Enables IBM AIX, Windows NT& 95, UnixWare, and

NetWare Servers to Gain High-Speed Fibre Channel Access

Cambex Corporation (OTC BB:CBEX) announced today the FibreQuik(TM) PC1000, a PCI-to-Fibre Channel host bus adapter (HBA) that enables high-speed Fibre Channel connectivity for IBM RS/6000, IBM RS/6000 SP, Windows NT, Windows 95, Novell NetWare, and SCO UnixWare high performance servers.

A Fibre Channel interface enables these servers to substantially expand the size, speed and scalability of their storage capabilities. In addition, cabling distances, device attachment options, capacity upgrading, systems reliability and large-scale deployment alternatives are significantly increased as Fibre Channel supports the attachment of up to 126 devices at distances up to 10 kilometers in a variety of configurations and to a variety of hosts and servers.

The FibreQuik PC1000 HBA is the newest addition to Cambex's growing family of Fibre Channel connectivity products. The FibreQuik PC1000 along with Cambex's FibreQuik MC1000 Micro Channel-to-Fibre Channel HBA allow, for the first time, all IBM RS/6000 computers, whether PCI or Micro Channel based, to be deployed in Fibre Channel Storage Area Networks (SANs). Cambex has optimized its AIX drivers to provide a Fibre Channel solution for the IBM environment with the best price/performance in the industry. Software drivers for Windows NT and 95, Novell NetWare, and UnixWare servers are also available.

Cambex developed Alternate Channel Failover(TM) (ACF) software for use with the FibreQuik adapters provides superior performance and availability in mission-critical AIX environments. ACF along with two FibreQuik PC1000s in each host server provides full data availability in the event of an adapter, cable, or RAID controller failure. In addition, with dual Fibre loops in a Fibre Channel disk array the Fibre Channel data rate can be effectively doubled to 200 MB/sec.

The FibreQuik PC1000 is unique as it utilizes industry standard Gigabit Interface Converter (GBIC) modules to provide direct support for both copper and optical Fibre Channel connections providing ultimate installation flexibility and investment protection. Available GBIC interfaces include active copper (DB-9 and HSSDC), multi-mode optical (ofc and non-ofc) and single mode optical (ofc and non-ofc). The FibreQuik allows users to start out with an economical copper Fibre Channel connection and upgrade at any time in the field through the adapter's hot-swappable GBIC interface to an optical Fibre Channel connection providing cabling distances of up to 10 kilometers making the card an ideal solution for disaster recovery applications.

FibreQuik provides industry leading performance making it an ideal solution for high-end server, online transaction processing, data warehousing, video post production, and Storage Area Networking applications. The PC1000, supporting Fibre Channel data transfer rates of 100 MB/sec, operates two to five times faster than the SCSI interfaces used in most storage servers today. It supports 64-bit bus master DMA transfers at rates up to 266 Mb/s across the PCI bus. The PC1000's architecture features three independent DMA channels for commands and data to reduce latency as well as independent send and receive frame buffers for full duplex operation. To minimize CPU utilization and optimize performance, an embedded RISC processor completely executes SCSI I/O commands generating only one system interrupt per I/O.

"Cambex continues to focus on providing its customers with the highest performance data storage products available. We will continue to enhance and expand our FibreQuik family of Fibre Channel connectivity products as Fibre Channel is becoming the de facto standard for the deployment of high performance and distributed storage solutions," stated Peter Kruy, Executive Vice President of Cambex.

Cambex's FibreQuik PC1000 HBA has been qualified for interoperability with most industry leading Fibre Channel disk arrays, tape libraries, and hubs. The FibreQuik PC1000 Fibre Channel adapter card is available beginning in January, 1999 from Cambex at a list price of $995. Copper and optical Fibre Channel GBICs are also available from Cambex.

Cambex, headquartered in Waltham, MA, has been a leader for 30 years in the design and manufacture of memory and direct access storage systems for IBM and other computer processors. Its products today include memory, Fibre Channel connectivity products, and disk array systems for IBM, SUN, HP and Windows NT environments. Cambex's products are installed in over 800 mainframe and open systems data centers worldwide. Cambex can be reached at 781-890-6000, or on the World Wide Web at www.cambex.com. FibreQuik is a trademark of Cambex Corporation; other trademarks are the properties of their respective holders.

Forward looking statements are made in this release pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that all forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the timing of new announcements or product introductions by the Company and its competitors, the hiring and retention of key employees, competitive pricing pressures, dependence on third parties for components and products, general economic conditions in the United States and international markets, and the risk factors detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.