OnStream Ships Award-Winning 30GB Digital Storage Drives for Servers, Power Desktops; Ultra High Capacity Removable Storage Solutions Start at Mass Market Prices.

LONGMONT, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 15, 1999--New removable storage drives that offer completely automatic backup and gigabytes (GB)(see Note a) of drag-and-drop storage are now shipping from OnStream Inc.

These new ultra high capacity digital drives start at $299. Media is available for as low as $1 per gigabyte(see Note b). A 50 GB SCSI solution will be available shortly.

OnStream's new SC30 digital tape drive made the Windows Magazine WinList for its flexibility and performance. It will be recognized in the April 1999 issue. In addition, the DI30 won an INFO PC sponsored FIHT Innovation 99 award in the "Best Removable Storage" category. The drives were also recently honored by resellers, earning a "Best of VarVision" award for "Best Hardware Product," Fall 1998.

Capable of holding up to 50 GB of information, OnStream's digital storage solutions are the first removable media products to enable users to inexpensively keep up with rapidly increasing hard drive capacities. OnStream's family of digital storage solutions for servers and power desktops comes in 30- and 50-GB models and offers a selection of SCSI, IDE and parallel port interfaces.

Reliability Through Advanced Digital Recording 

All of the drives feature the company's patented Advanced Digital Recording(tm) (ADR) technology that features data reliability at least 100 times better than similar removable products -- a crucial factor for the server environment. ADR's eight channel array head reads and writes eight tracks of data simultaneously, spatially distributing error correction code (ECC) both horizontally and vertically.

OnStream digital storage solutions employ continuously variable speeds up to 2.0 MB/s making them ideal for streaming video and other data intensive applications that weren't previously possible with traditional tape drives.

For Windows NT server backup applications, the SCSI products are compatible with Seagate BackupExec(tm) and Computer Associates ARCserveIT(tm). Customers can typically back up the hard disks of most PC servers, power desktops and workstations on a single cartridge.

Completely Automatic Back Up with OnStream Echo Software

OnStream's desktop products are easy to use. During installation, users simply select backup time intervals. From that point, they don't have to lift a finger. OnStream's Echo(tm) software automatically backs up everything on the hard drive and continually backs up new or changed files based on the preset time schedule.

The huge capacity of the drive enables the user to automatically save different file versions, rather than overwriting them. This provides the benefit of easily recalling earlier file versions with the click of a mouse, which is especially useful for creative and technical professionals, such as graphic artists, desktop publishers and CAD engineers, who may want to revisit a previous layout or drawing after presenting a project to the client.

Echo's catalog provides easy access to files stored on all removable media devices connected to the PC, allowing people to effortlessly keep track of all their work within a single, centrally located file directory.

Pricing and Availability

OnStream desktop solutions, including the DI30 (30 GB internal IDE) and DP30 (30 GB external parallel port), are currently available at estimated street prices of $299 and $399, respectively. OnStream's SC30 (30 GB internal SCSI) solution for servers and workstations is also available at an estimated street price of $499.

The SC50 (50 GB internal SCSI) will be available shortly at an estimated street price of $699.

30 GB removable ADR cartridges are available at $39.95 each, or $99.95 for a three-pack. Their 50 GB counterparts are $49.95 each, or $129.95 for a three-pack.

All drives and media are available throughout the United States through leading distribution, retail and catalog companies, including Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Pinacor, Digital Storage Inc., D&H, CompUSA, Microcenter, CDW, MicroWarehouse, Global Computer Supplies, Misco, Multizones, PC Connection, Insight and Creative Computers.

OnStream products are also currently available in Canada through Ingram Micro, Tech Data and Digital Storage Inc. and will be widely available throughout Europe shortly.

About OnStream

OnStream Inc. was incorporated in 1998 to deliver affordable, high capacity removable storage solutions for PC servers, workstations and power desktops. The privately held, Colorado-based company is a spin-off from Philips Electronics of The Netherlands. Philips holds significant equity in the new company.

Powered by its patented ADR technology, OnStream's initial products offer up to 50 GB of capacity and target the growing need for solutions that can deliver the right blend of capacity, performance, reliability and convenience -- all at prices that make sense for today's power desktop and PC server computer users.

For more information, visit OnStream at www.onstream.com.

Note a: Where 1 GB = 1 billion bytes. All capacities mentioned assume 2:1 compression using backup software. Capacity and performance will vary with file types and system configuration.

Note b: Based on minimum advertising pricing of 3-pack 50 GB SKU.

Note to Editors: OnStream, ADR, OnStream Echo, the OnStream logo and ADR logo are trademarks of OnStream Inc. All other trademarks are properties of their respective companies.