ADAPTEC INTRODUCES HIGH-PERFORMANCE PCI RAID SOLUTION FOR ENTRY-LEVEL AND
MID-RANGE LAN SERVERS

Wide SCSI adapter features first PCI-to-PCI bridge design and establishes
new price/performance point for RAID solutions

Milpitas, Calif, - August 21, 1995 - Adaptec (NASDAQ:ADPT), a leader in
input/output (I/O) technology, extended its Redundant Array of Inexpensive
Disk (RAID) family with the introduction of the AHA-3985W MultiChannel
(RAID adapter kit that provides connectivity for today's standard 8-bit
and 16-bit Fast and Wide SCSI devices.

Adaptec's Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) kit includes support
of RAID levels 0, 1, 0/1, 5 and incorporates a PCI-to-PCI bridge design
for a suggested retail price of $849. Adaptec's approach to RAID
technology provides performance benefits normally available only in
microprocessor-based array controllers that retail for more than $2,000.

The Adaptec PCI RAID adapter's PCI-to-PCI bridge design allows multiple
high-speed PCI devices to operate on a dedicated, on-board PCI bus capable
of transfer rates up to 133 Mbytes/second. Adaptec has also incorporated a
dedicated RAID RISC-based coprocessor that offloads the server host
processor, such as a Pentium (P54C90) CPU, by up to 15%.

The AHA-3985W includes software operating system support for Novell NetWare
3.11, 3.12 and 4.XX operating systems. With three fully-independent
RISC-based PCI-to-SCSI channels, users can connect up to 45 disk and
non-disk peripherals.

"Today's distributed computing environments require continuous data
availability and reliability, and RAID is a critical solution to managing
data storage," said John Hamm, vice president and general manager of
Adaptec's Enterprise Computing Group. "RAID is a substantial market
opportunity for Adaptec, and our technology will establish a unique
price/performance point in PCI RAID. The AHA-3985W fills the gap betweeen
performance-limiting RAID software solutions and high-priced
microprocessor-based array controllers."

PCI-to-PCI Bridge Multiprocessing Architecture for RAID

During the last year, Adaptec led an industry effort to raise awareness and
make PCI-to-PCI bridge support standard on most PCs and servers by working
with systems and basic input/output systems (BIOS) companies. Adaptec's
PCI-to-PCI bridge support technology provides significant performance and
expansion benefits in multichannel SCSI environments.

With the PCI-to-PCI bridge design, overall server performance can be
increased through better distribution of bus traffic by offloading
processing to an onboard secondary PCI bus.

A PCI-to-PCI bridge can be defined as a bus translator, or "extender," that
allows several PCI devices to be connected to a single PCI slot in a
system without degrading the signal quality and performance.

"Multiprocessing RAID architectures are enhanced when a PCI-to-PCI bridge
design is utilized, and the cost of RAID is significantly reduced," said
Roger Cox, manager of disk array marketing in Adaptec's Enterprise
Computing business unit. "In recent standard benchmarking tests measuring
random and sequential read and write transactions, our RAID solution
achieved 24% overall improved performance over certain
microprocessor-based array controllers in entry-level environments.

For RAID 5 parity calculations, the dedicated RISC-based coprocessor
handles the functions for the host, freeing the server for other tasks.

Another feature of the multiprocessing architecture is SCSI command
chaining. This advanced architectural feature automates the processing of
multiple I/O commands without host system involvement. This reduces host
system interrupts and I/O bus traffic to increase overall data
throughput.

Additional Tools for LAN Managers

Two important features of Adaptec's PCI RAID adapter kit critical to LAN
and system managers are RAID utilities and Adaptec's CI/O software.
Adaptec's CI/O software allows administrators to quickly and remotely
diagnose problems, and manage and profile performance of disk arrays and
other SCSI devices from any Windows-based client.

Additional key operating features of the AHA-3985W PCI RAID adapter kit
include hot-swap drive support, which is the ability to perform on-the-fly
disk replacement. Hot spare drive support and array status reporting is
also included.

Typical users of Adaptec's RAID systems include LAN system managers and IS
managers that operate Pentium and multiprocessor servers with up to 50
users and utilize from two to 20 gigabytes of storage capacity. These
managers are typically concerned with real-time data recovery beyond tape
backup, and ensuring continuous data access for the entire network.

Pricing and Availability

Adaptec's AHA-3985W PCI RAID adapter kit includes the following:

* A three-channel PCI-SCSI RAID adapter
* RAID utility software and NetWare drivers
  (versions 3.11, 3.12, 4.XX)
* Adaptec CI/O and drivers
* Two internal SCSI cables with active termination
* Complete hardware and software documentation

The AHA-3985W PCI RAID adapter kit has a suggested retail price of $849 and
will be available in September 1995 from Adaptec's worldwide distributor
network.

Adaptec, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADPT) designs, manufactures and markets IOware(r)
solutions to eliminate performance bottlenecks between microcomputers,
networks, and peripherals. Solutions range from simple connectivity
products for single-user and small-office desktops, to intelligent
subsystem, high-performance SCSI, RAID and ATM products for
enterprise-wide computing and networked environments. Adaptec I/O
solutions are incorporated into the products of virtually all the major
computer and peripheral manufacturers around the world.

Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., Adaptec is a
recognized market leader in high-performance I/O technology.Adaptec
currently employs approximately 1,800 people, and with its global
distribution network, serves customers worldwide.Adaptec's World Wide Web
home page address is http://www.adaptec.com.
 
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