Promise Announces First PC Motherboard With IDE RAID Ports To Offer Faster Storage Performance & Data Protection.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 1, 1998--

New Concept Targets Entry-level Servers, Workstations and

High-end Desktop PCs

Promise Technology Inc. Tuesday announced it has developed the first high performance PC motherboard to employ IDE RAID technology, featuring speedier data transfers, data redundancy, and the ability to build huge "virtual" storage volumes composed of multiple UDMA or EIDE drives.

Now computer users can employ RAID with IDE drives, saving hundreds of dollars in the process.

The Checkered Flag FT440BX (MSRP $289) -- the first of a series -- supports up to 450MHz Pentium-II CPUs. It also features an AGP set slot for graphics, an Intel 440BX chipset, a complete suite of high-speed I/O ports, two USB ports, two standard UDMA/IDE/ATAPI ports, full set of PCI and ISA slots, power management, virus protection, and desktop management functions.

Powered by promise IDE RAID, the FT440BX adds two dedicated RAID ports that support RAID levels 0 (striping), 1 (mirroring), or 0+1 (a combination of both). The ports allow attaching two drives (minimum) up to four drives. (Editor's note: Though different manufacturers and drive sizes can be used, Promise recommends the use of identical drives for best results.)

For performance applications, the IDE RAID design increases the sustained data transfer rate of standard Ultra DMA or EIDE drives by sharing the processing workload across multiple drives (RAID 0). The system sees the multiple attached drives as one huge "virtual" drive and adds their capacities together. Data transfer rates typically exceed Ultra Wide SCSI combinations. Up to 250 reads/writes per second can be sustained -- doubling the conventional I/O output of drives.

Entry-level servers can choose to protect network data on every save by sending identical data to two attached drives (RAID 1) or to two pairs of drives performing striping and mirroring simultaneously (RAID 0+1). If a drive crashes, RAID 1 or 0+1 maintains continuous operation using the working drive(s) and rebuilds drive data when a replacement drive is installed. The system sees the capacity of only one drive or one pair of drives being mirrored.

"The storage subsystem in any PC is much slower than today's fast CPUs," said Sam Sirisena, Promise vice president of sales and marketing. "Our unique motherboard concept produces transfer rates up to 25MB/sec sustained -- faster than today's high-end SCSI solutions -- while offering data redundancy protection and huge storage at a much lower price point."

The motherboard houses three dedicated PCI slots, one shared PCI/ISA slot, three dedicated ISA slots, and two conventional IDE ports for hard drives or ATAPI devices. It accepts up to 512MB of DRAM on four 168-pin DIMM slots. An AWARD BIOS features Plug 'n' Play support, advanced power management (software power-off, modem/alarm/keyboard power-on, override and failure recovery, cooling fan control), and wake up on LAN detection.

The Promise IDE RAID storage subsystem co-exists with the motherboard IDE controller allowing users to keep other existing drives or devices. Users may choose to boot their system from either conventional IDE port or a designated Promise IDE RAID array. By adding Promise's FastTrak PCI card (MSRP: $149), users may also support eight drives for IDE RAID 0, 1, or 0+1.

The FT440BX includes the FastBuild(tm) setup utility to auto-configure the RAID array or arrays. Its FastCheck(tm) Windows GUI software offers array monitoring to identify arrays, identify failed drives, and guide the rebuild process for the user under RAID 1 or 0+1. Under Windows 95/98 or NT, the utility triggers a pop-up graphical alarm indicating the drive failure. An audible alarm sounds for DOS/Windows 3.1x users.

"With the cost of IDE drives falling rapidly, Promise is taking advantage of their higher storage capacities and faster speeds to provide continuous data protection, especially when compared to periodic methods of protecting network data, such as tape backups or removable drives," Sirisena added.

The FT440BX fully supports Ultra DMA drives with their 33MB/sec burst data transfer rates and CRC error-checking feature at higher speeds, and is offered with a one-year limited warranty.

Promise Technology, with headquarters in San Jose, is a worldwide leader in solutions that improve system performance -- including IDE storage, subsystems, and performance peripherals.

Since its founding in 1988, the company has introduced the first IDE caching controller, the first Ultra DMA controller card, and the first controller to offer IDE RAID for desktop PCs. With its unequalled track record of design innovation and product development, Promise remains at the forefront of the IDE controller and I/O solution field.

For additional information, contact: Frank Widder, Promise Technology, 1460 Koll Circle, San Jose, Calif. 95112. Phone: [phone], ext. 244. Fax: [phone]. E-mail: [e-mail]. URL: www.promise.com.

CONTACT: T&O/RobertsMealer

Sylvia Chansler, 949/855-7870

E-mail: [e-mail]

or

Promise Technology, San Jose

Frank Widder, 800/888-0245, Ext. 244

E-mail: [e-mail]