Cygnet Announces the Highest Capacity DVD/CD Jukebox; InfiniDISC+: A Scalable and Flexible 7.0 TB Storage Solution.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 2000

Cygnet Storage Solutions, a privately held company, announces the industry's highest capacity jukebox and first fully integrated RAID and Networked DVD-RAM Jukebox.

Cygnet, an ISO9001 certified manufacturer, has taken its superior Infinidisc robotic management system that controls multiple drives to read from and write to hundreds of CDs and DVDs within the same enclosure and has added faster disc exchange times, huge storage capacity, and two integrated components called InfiniNET Network Attached Storage and InfiniRAID Accelerated Throughput Storage modules.

InfiniDISC+ is more than just a name change. To Cygnet's installed base of customers, it is "a dramatic improvement in technology without any hassle of integration and testing", says Wayne Augsburger, Cygnet's V.P. of Sales and Marketing. "Cygnet has responded to our request to put more discs within the same physical footprint and maintain full compatibility to Infinidisc."

InfiniDISC+ earns its name by increasing the number of discs that can be stored in one cabinet to a maximum of 1,500-discs, a 200% increase when compared to the 500-disc Infinidisc. To provide rapid access to these discs, Cygnet has re-engineered the robotic mechanism of Infinidisc to handle variable picker movements via the Arm Tower Unit or ATU. Discs can be removed from the Disc Storage Unit (DSU) and be ready to insert into the drive within seconds.

Most competitive jukeboxes are fixed disc-capacity and in order to add disc-capacity, a second jukebox needs to be purchased and takes up a greater amount of floor space. With Cygnet's approach, if you need 500-disc capacity or 2.35TB today and want to increase the capacity to 1,000-disc or 4.7TB in the future, all you need to do is to purchase the InfiniDISC+ "Enterprise" version. The Enterprise version can be retrofitted with additional DSUs to store more discs. You can also add additional drives or newly-released drive technologies to match the disc capacity too.

The InfiniDISC+ series offers a selection of three cabinet sizes with a variety of drive and disc configurations. The "Workgroup" version stores up to 500-discs and up to 6-drives. It is perfect for the workgroup environment that requires timely access to data stored on the collection of CD and DVD titles and requires additional network storage of critical data and backups of primary storage.

The "Departmental" version stores up to 1,000-discs and up to 14-drives, depending on jukebox configuration. This mid-sized unit is great for departments that need to separate their files but have access to commonly used or shared files. With multi-drive simultaneous access, this unit can be used as a traditional jukebox as well as a drive tower to access on-line data.

The "Enterprise" version is engineered to meet even the most demanding storage environment. It houses up to 1,500-discs and up to 28 drives. Similar to the Department level unit, it allows access to multiple discs and drives to provide on-line, near-line, and off-line storage capabilities. It can be used to store critical data in a centrally located place with the utmost confidence of its reliability and without the human intervention of inserting a specific disc.

The InfiniDISC+ series offers two additional modules for the Department and Enterprise versions. InfiniNET allows the InfiniDISC+ jukebox to directly connect to a network via a standard Ethernet connection. No longer is it necessary to bring down the entire network to install your storage device, upset proprietary network system settings or utilize valuable network server resources to manage the network's storage requirements.

Using the integrated InfiniNET module, the InfiniDISC+ jukebox can be located wherever there is an available network connection. InfiniNET includes an independent network and storage management controller to allow any user on the network to store or retrieve data housed on DVD-RAM media. There are no network or user license fees. InfiniNET shares data among different networks and different computer platforms and provides Windows, Novell, Apple, and Unix clients direct access to data in a transparent way. Just click on the jukebox disc icon and gain access to data.

If your data files are not properly managed and data access is slow across your network, InfiniNET also allows you a complement of HSM Level-1 or Hierarchical Storage Management tools. HSM provides a way to store data that needs to be immediately accessible into an on-line storage area (or onto Cygnet's InfiniRAID module) and migrate that data when it is less-frequently used. HSM also allows data to be directly written to DVD-RAM media. If location is a problem, InfiniNET also has a web-enabled or HTML interface to provide instant control of any feature or function of the InfiniNET module or InfiniDISC+ jukebox.

InfiniRAID provides the best way to utilize HSM and InfiniDISC+. For computing environments that require greater speed of accessing data along with additional security of a fault-tolerant buffer, InfiniRAID is seamlessly integrated into the InfiniDISC+ enclosure. Using RAID Level-5, data is written across multiple media on multiple hard disk drives. This technique minimizes the chance of a catastrophic error on any media or drive and allows high-speed read transfer rates since each media and drive is accessed independently of another. Similar to InfiniNET, InfiniRAID also includes a web-enabled or HTML interface for control of its setup or configuration options.

"The combination of InfiniNET, InfiniRAID, and InfiniDISC+ provides a powerful and fully-integrated storage appliance for applications and computing environments requiring on-line, near-line, and off-line storage," adds Mr. Augsburger. "Cygnet has taken the complexity out of selecting, integrating, and testing off-the-shelf hardware and software components to offer a simple to use yet powerful storage appliance."

There is no longer a requirement to maintain an expensive staff to engineer the perfect storage solution for your network. Whether you are storing Digital Assets, Medical Images, Legal Depositions, or Internet email and software downloads, Cygnet's InfiniDISC+ with rapid access InfiniRAID, and direct network connection InfiniNET can be used seamlessly without any disruption to your network server or the network itself.

InfiniDISC+ pricing starts at $11,795.00 U.S. for a 250-disc and 2 CD-ROM drive configuration and is sold by authorized Cygnet Resellers. All InfiniDISC+ hardware products, offered by Cygnet, come with an on-site service contract as well as product warranty. We welcome resellers, who are interested in becoming part of our Team, to contact us at [e-mail]. We also encourage software vendors to find out more about our InfiniPartner Program by contacting us via [e-mail].

About Cygnet Storage Solutions, Inc.

Cygnet Storage Solutions, an ISO9001 certified manufacturer, is a provider of an increasingly wide array of CD/DVD storage and automated recording solutions. Cygnet, the first company to offer an integrated DVD-RAM technology into its jukeboxes, has installed its InfiniDISC, InfiniDVD, and DVD100 jukeboxes into key applications and has been instrumental in ushering DVD-RAM storage and archival solutions into the storage industry mainstream. Its diverse and popular product line includes CD and DVD jukeboxes, CD auto-loading duplicators, towers, network attached storage devices and network servers. Cygnet is headquartered in Milpitas, California.

For more information about Cygnet, call +1 800-7CYGNET, email to [e-mail] or visit www.cygnet.com.

For press contact, please email to [e-mail].

Any statements released above that are forward-looking are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company's business and prospects, including economic, competitive, government, technological and other factors discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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