jek@fibercom.com (Jim Kristof) (12/28/89)
NEW FIBER OPTIC CHANNEL EXTENDER SETS DISTANCE RECORD;
FIBERCOM LINKS IBM HOST/PERIPHERALS MORE THAN SIX MILES
Roanoke, VA -- March 6, 1989 -- FiberCom today introduced a new product
line of nine fiber optic data communications systems to link IBM
mainframe computers and various peripherals that can be as far as 6.2
miles from each other, which is 40 percent greater than what was
previously possible.
FiberCom's new OptiChannel 7000 series of fiber optic channel extenders
were officially unveiled at the Interface Trade Show in New York City
on March 14, 1989. In a traditional configuration, the IBM host and
peripherals must be located within 400 feet of each other to provide
full-functionality and performance. The OptiChannel 7000 channel
extenders allow end-users to maintain full functionality and performance
to 6.2 miles. The series of nine channel extenders enables a user to
select the optimum link speed and distance to meet his requirements.
"The OptiChannel sets new standards in performance, distance,
upgradibility, and reliability," said David Gallagher, Vice President
of Marketing at FiberCom. "Not only do we outdistance the closest
competition, our sophisticated hardware design provides the user
superior device performance and efficient CPU channel utilization
by virtually eliminating buffering, microprocessor and fiber delays
common to competing products."
The OptiChannel modular architecture allows each system to be
completely field upgradable, a feature only available with
FiberCom's channel extenders, according to Gallagher. As a
totally field upgradable system, FiberCom's entry level system can
be upgraded in the field to the top-of-the-line system.
"The users investment is protected. If requirements change and
grow, we can upgrade the system on-site," Gallagher added.
Moreover, OptiChannel 7000 series can simultaneously support both
dc-interlocked and data streaming controllers over the same link.
This feature allows a single FiberCom channel extender to do a
job that might otherwise require two or more channel extenders.
With OptiChannel 7000 series of fiber optic channel extenders,
channel-like communication between IBM host computers or an IBM
host and peripherals such as tape drives, laser printers,
computer-aided design terminals, and other plug compatible control
units can be extended to 10 kilometers.
"This product line is of strategic interest to corporations that
operate the largest data processing centers in the world," said
Dr. Albert Bender, a co-founder and chairman of the high-
performance fiber optic communications company. "Keeping the
needs of these users in mind, we not only provide superior
performance, but also have designed into our product easy
installation, sophisticated diagnostics, a subchannel to the host
CPU for initialization and troubleshooting, and remote dial-in
customer support."
FiberCom channel extenders are available in models with remote
distance capabilities of 2 km, 5 km, and 10 km, with each of these
units available with a choice of data transmission speeds of 750
kilobytes per second, 1.5 Megabytes per second, and 3.0 Megabytes
per second -- for a product family of nine fiber optic channel
extenders. Pricing for the OptiChannel 7000 series of channel
extenders ranges from $18,000 to $45,000.
The OptiChannel 7000 Series product family support IBM 43XX,
308X, 3090 processors and plug compatible processors from Amdahl,
National Advanced Systems and others. In addition, the Optichannel
requires no host resident software and is completely transparent
to operating system or application software.
Founded in 1982, the Roanoke, Virginia-based FiberCom is a leading
developer of high-performance fiber optic systems designed to
solve communications problems for a broad range of government and
commercial customers. The company, listed in the December issue
of INC. Magazine as one of the nation's fastest growing private
businesses, has crated a host of innovative products and systems
including WhisperNet, a high-performance fiber optic LAN that is
compatible with Ethernet, the dominant local area network standard.
FiberCom is also expanding its product line to support the
emerging Fiber Distributed Data Interface(FDDI) standard.
Contact: Karen Smith (703) 342-6700
Mike Rothenberg
Stackig/Swanston
(703) 734-3300