KOM Software announces optical device support for the Windows NT™ Operating System

Ottawa, ON Canada – September 15, 1994

KOM Software was founded in 1969, and has been an integrator of optical disks since they were introduced in 1985.

KOM Software' device driver for the transparent integration of optical disk (jukebox) autochangers is called OptiServer. KOM Software is now announcing the inclusion of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system as a platform supported by OptiServer. This support includes both the workstation and server versions of Windows NT; the transparency will be extended to any associated networks.

OptiServer/NT permits physical disk surfaces in a jukebox to be grouped together as a "virtual" disk. Each virtual disk appears as a hard drive which is always available. OptiServer/NT transparently operates the jukebox so that is appears as a collection of mounted disks.

Using Windows NT's disk administrator subsystem, the user can partition the virtual drive into smaller logical drives or can combine virtual drives to make larger volume sets. Up to 99 virtual disks can be created, each of which can be up to 4 Terabytes (depending on the size of the jukebox). Up to 23 can be assigned drive letters (c: to z:). Each drive can be formatted as NTFS or FAT.

All OptiServer/NT subsystems require a caching disk for improved performance. Data is cached during both read and write access. Read caching allows frequently accessed data to be obtained from the disk cache without having to wait for an optical disk which might be on a shelf. OptiServer automatically swaps disks into drives in order to access older data, and keeps frequently used disks online.

Write caching performs writes to the cache disk, and permits the user's program to continue without awaiting jukebox activity. All writes are placed in a queue and written to the corresponding optical volume when it comes on-line. Disk swapping is done automatically in order to maximize throughput.

The combination of read and write caching provides some of the benefits of Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM), while offering several advantages, such as:

• the user controls the placement of files in the jukebox;
• the user does not have to wait for the entire file to copy from the jukebox before accessing the file;
• only those parts of the file to be accessed are copied from the jukebox.

Both write once and/or rewritable media types are supported on autochangers simultaneously. Also supported are those drives which support multifunction operations. The native NTFS file format is supported in all cases.

Release Schedule

OptiServer/NT Rewritable operations on Intel & MIPS based systems: Ready

OptiServer/NT Write Once and/or Multifunction operationsOn Alpha AXP, or Power PC: Q4 1994

Packaging

Standard NT device driver, Maintenance utility, SCSI cache drive option, SCSI interface card option.

Operating Systems

Windows/NT, Windows/NT Advanced Server

About KOM Software

KOM Software is a world leading provider of flexible, secure data archiving and storage management software. Over 10,000 of the world's leading corporations have recognized KOM Software as the most logical, unobtrusive and secure way to store, access and protect their data. KOM is enabling enterprises large and small a cost effective way to improve productivity and meet compliance requirements without altering their network infrastructure or daily business routines. The industry pioneer holds vital industry patents for electronic file lifecycle management, virtual file management and eWORM fixed content hard disk archiving. Find out how KOM Software can help you implement a comprehensive information lifecycle solution to optimize your existing storage environment and meet your compliance requirements.

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