Digi-Data Introduces Uninterruptible Video Streaming For High Performance Fibre Channel RAID Systems.

JESSUP, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 1998--Digi-Data Corp., manufacturer of the world's fastest RAID controllers, announced the immediate availability of Uninterruptible Video Streaming (UVS), a new RAID feature that dramatically improves the continuity of transferring streams of video data and other large sequential files from disk arrays.

When a disk fails in a RAID disk array, the Uninterruptible Video Streaming (UVS) feature enables the RAID system to continue to read (or write) large files of data, such as digital video broadcasts, without the lengthy interruption typical of current RAID systems.

Uninterruptible Video Streaming is especially important in Fibre Channel RAID systems where Digi-Data RAID controllers sustain transfers at speeds over 55 MB/second. At that data rate a few seconds of interruption would cause the loss of hundreds of megabytes of data.

"One of the advantages of a RAID system is its ability to recover from the failure of a disk in an array," explained Dr. Tomlinson Rauscher, president of Digi-Data.

"However, the time consumed by sophisticated error recovery schemes in high performance disk drives coupled with the time required by typical RAID controllers to detect disk failures cause interruptions in reading data from a disk array that often last 3-5 seconds, and can last as long as 10 seconds."

Applications:

Lengthy interruptions caused by disk failures, even temporary disk failures caused by elevated temperatures, can be disastrous in applications that are reading or writing streams of continuous data from a computer to a RAID disk array.

For example, in video broadcasting, where data read from a high speed Fibre Channel RAID system goes directly to broadcast, an interruption due to disk problems can result in frozen frames, stuttered video, or loss of picture.

In continuous data recording applications, such as geophysical or satellite data recording, an interruption due to a disk problem can result in failure to capture data that, when missed, is lost forever.

Design Benefits:

The Digi-Data Uninterruptible Video Streaming Video (UVS) feature minimizes interruptions associated with disk errors in several ways. As a result, after a disk fails, Digi-Data RAID controllers with Uninterruptible Video Streaming continue to operate without loss of data and without performance degradation.

For example, the Digi-Data Z-9552 Dual Fibre Channel RAID Controller will continue to deliver more than 55 MB/second throughput in the event of a disk failure.

"Digi-Data developed Uninterruptible Video Streaming in response to requests from customers who had experienced unfortunate interruptions in reading video streams on other RAID systems," said Rauscher.

"With the high performance of Digi-Data's new Fibre Channel RAID controllers and the growing use of digital video in broadcasting and other applications, Uninterruptible Video Streaming is especially important."

Availability:

Digi-Data's Uninterruptible Video Streaming feature is immediately available for its Z-9500 family of Fibre Channel RAID controllers, Z-9200 family of Ultra2 SCSI RAID controllers, and Z-9100 family of Ultra SCSI RAID controllers. Current Digi-Data customers can download firmware with the Uninterruptible Video Streaming feature from the Digi-Data web site, www.digidata.com

About Digi-Data Corp.:

Digi-Data Corp. is a privately owned manufacturer with headquarters at its 75-acre site in Jessup. Established in 1960, the company has been providing mass storage solutions to the market for over 35 years. Since establishing itself as a leader in disk array technology in 1992, Digi-Data has delivered thousands of RAID Controllers to customers worldwide.