info@dell.dell.com (Dell Computer Corp) (09/12/90)
ADVANCED MASS STORAGE OPTION ANNOUNCED BY DELL COMPUTER CORPORATION
--Only Company To Offer High-Performance Drive Array
With Industry's Top-Rated Service And Support
AUSTIN, TEXAS, AUGUST 31, 1990 -- DellTM Computer Corporation
(NASDAQ:DELL) today announced the Dell Drive Array, a Dell-
developed disk subsystem for applications requiring maximum disk
performance and data reliability. The Drive Array positions the
Dell SystemR 433TE and the Dell System 425TE, two 80486-based
tower systems introduced today, as ideal for UNIXR, network
servers and other high-performance application environments such
as CAD.
The Drive Array offers substantial performance gains over
ESDI and SCSI hard disk drives and caching controllers.
"The Dell Drive Array improves storage performance and
reliability through data striping, data redundancy and
simultaneous seeks across a number of drives," said G. Glenn
Henry, senior vice president of the product group. "The Drive
Array processes data faster than other mass storage options
available for PCs."
'Data striping' transfers data from multiple disks
simultaneously to achieve extremely high throughput. 'Data
redundancy' refers to recovering data intact when a disk fails.
'Simultaneous seeks' allow concurrent access to files on
different disks.
Performance benefits
The performance and reliability benefits of the Drive Array
are targeted for network servers, multiuser UNIX systems, and
applications that require fast data transfers from hard disk
drives such as loading large CAD drawings, software development,
and running graphical interfaces and applications.
"The combination of ultra-high performance, large capacity
and data reliability make the Drive Array the mass storage option
of choice for our System 433TE and 425TE customers running disk
intensive applications," said Joel J. Kocher, senior vice
president of U.S. sales and operations. "And like all Dell
products, the Dell Drive Array is backed by Dell's top-rated
service and support, recognized in the PC industry as second to
none."
Features and benefits
The Dell Drive Array consists of a 32-bit EISA bus master
controller card utilizing the IntelR 960 processor, a high-
performance 32-bit RISC processor. The card supports up to ten
disk drives. When the card is installed in the System 425TE or
System 433TE, the maximum number of drives is limited by power
supply capacity. In this case, the system will support up to
eight drives. The initial maximum storage capacity using 200
megabyte drives is 1.6 gigabytes. The controller is designed to
support larger drive sizes when they become available.
The data striping feature allows up to five drives to be
used in parallel. This enables file servers to respond more
quickly and provide higher throughput for workstation
applications. Redundancy combined with data striping allows data
from a damaged or failed disk to be recovered completely so no
information is lost.
If a drive fails, the drive array continues to transparently
read and write data using the remaining drives. When the failed
drive is replaced, redundancy enables the array to restore the
proper information automatically restored to the new drive.
The Drive Array has the capability to control up to ten
independently seeking drives, common in multiuser environments,
with each drive independently working on a potentially unrelated
job.
The Dell Drive Array also is designed for extendability and
flexibility using features such as an extender card and down-
loadable microcode.
To achieve strict compatibility with existing hardware, the
Dell Drive Array provides industry standard AT adapter and
Adaptec SCSI disk controller interfaces. The Drive Array
supports MS-DOSR, MS-OS/2, NetWare, Dell UNIX System V, SCO UNIX
System V, Banyan Vines and other major operating systems.
The Dell Drive Array will be available the fourth quarter
1990. Pricing will be announced at that time.
Dell Computer Corporation designs, develops, manufactures,
markets, services and supports a complete line of personal
computers compatible with industry standards. The company is
recognized in independent surveys as having the highest level of
customer satisfaction in the industry for its line of personal
computers. Dell pioneered the direct marketing of personal
computers in 1984. Information on the company and its products
can be obtained through its toll-free number: 800/426-5150.
# # #
Dell System is a registered trademark and Dell is a trademark of
Dell Computer Corporation.
UNIX is a registered trademark of American Telephone and
Telegraph Company.
Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.
MS and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
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