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Promise Technology Delivers Affordable ATA Raid 5

Promise Technology Inc, an originator and global leader in ATA RAID storage solutions, has introduced FastTrak SX4000, a low-cost, high-performance, four-channel ATA RAID 5 host adapter card designed for smaller servers and professional workstations running Windows or Linux platforms. FastTrak SX4000 fills a market need for sophisticated yet cost-effective RAID 5 solutions -- combining the strength of hardware-based RAID5 with affordable ATA technology.

FastTrak SX4000 has a hardware-based XOR engine to provide rapid parity calculations for RAID 5 arrays. When installed in a 66MHz PCI-based motherboard, FastTrak SX4000 can achieve up to 20,000 IO/s per second and data transfer rates of 165 MB/s or more.

"We designed FastTrak SX4000 to offer the same kind of storage capacities, sophisticated fault-tolerant data protection, and superior performance used by high-end computing environments without the larger price tag," said Sam Sirisena, vice president of sales and marketing worldwide, Promise Technology Inc. "Now users with smaller servers and professional workstations can take full advantage of the cost-savings, performance, and proven reliability offered by Promise ATA RAID."

FastTrak SX4000 supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5 and JBOD using up to four standard Ultra ATA drives. The onboard Promise BIOS offers 48-bit Large LBA support to automatically recognize and optimize the performance of larger Ultra ATA drives while supporting individual drive sizes exceeding 137GB for maximum capacity arrays. FastTrak SX4000 has a single 168-pin DIMM slot supporting up to 256MB user-installed ECC or non-ECC cache memory (64MB minimum required).

FastTrak SX4000 includes network-accessible Promise Array Management software (PAM), allowing remote monitoring of RAID array(s), attached drives, and the SX4000 host adapter from Windows-based PCs. PAM works via TCP/IP and lets users manage and monitor the status of all array components, schedule standard data maintenance procedures, and set up automatic e-mail notification for critical and informational array events.

Pricing and Availability

FastTrak SX4000 is available now and has an MSRP of $169.

About Promise Technology Inc

Promise Technology is the originator of ATA RAID, using cost-effective ATA technology to design and manufacture a fast, reliable data protection and storage alternative to SCSI RAID systems. With its legacy of ATA product and technology development, Promise Technology is a recognized world leader in ATA controllers, ATA RAID cards and ATA RAID subsystems, and maintains ongoing product development relationships with most major ATA hard drive manufacturers and OEMs. Headquartered in Milpitas, California, the company maintains offices in Europe, Taiwan, and China. For more information, visit Promise Technology's Website at www.promise.com.

Contact: Craig Lyons, Product Marketing Manager of Promise Technology Inc, 800-888-0245 x6336, or craigl@promise.com.