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- Editorial Contact:
- Tony Campitelli
- Product Marketing
- Sonic Systems, Inc.
- 333 W. El Camino #280
- Sunnyvale, CA 94087
- Tel: 408-736-1900
- Fax: 408-736-7228
-
- Release Date: November 11, 1991
-
- SONIC SYSTEMS ANNOUNCES DISKLESS BOOTING PRODUCT FOR THE MACINTOSH FOR HIGH
- NETWORK SECURITY
-
- SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA, NOVEMBER 11, 1991--Sonic Systems, Inc. announced today
- The Diskless Mac product for the Apple Macintosh. The Diskless Mac (or 'TDM'
- for short) will allow the Macs on an Ethernet network to act as diskless
- workstations. In other words, no hard disk or floppy disk drives are required
- to operate the Macintosh.
-
- TDM is a ROM Upgrade and software package which will work with the most popular
- Ethernet boards on the market, including those from Sonic Systems, Apple,
- Asanté, and 3Com. TDM is ideal for use in: labs, Mac learning clusters, public
- access computing environments and high security government and company
- networks. "TDM eliminates the need for disk media in the Macintosh; this is
- ideal for networks where high security is paramount," said Mr. Sreekanth Ravi,
- President of Sonic Systems, Inc. Mr. Ravi continued, "TDM also significantly
- reduces the amount of network administration required to maintain a Mac cluster
- by having all software accessible only through the network file server."
-
- TDM offers many benefits: reduces cost per Macintosh because there is no need
- for a hard disk drive, reduces maintenance costs resulting from the elimination
- of disk media (hard disk and floppy disk drives), and provides a uniform
- operating system for all users that is directly manageable by the system
- administrator. In addition, unauthorized software duplication and the
- spreading of software viruses can be controlled by removing all disk media from
- the Mac and only allowing access to software from the network file server. All
- of these things result in a much more reliable network.
-
- TDM was specifically designed for those environments where there is one or more
- file server (AppleShare or UNIX) being used by a group of publicly accessible
- Mac's networked via Ethernet. TDM, by eliminating the need for a hard disk
- drive and floppy disk drive, will allow all Mac's to boot from a standard
- system image which can be controlled by the network administrator. This system
- image can be easily modified as needed to provide, for example, a controlled
- set of applications, inits, fonts and DA's to all users. In fact, if the Mac's
- must be further segmented, multiple system images can be maintained on the
- server to allow certain Mac's to have specific operating system functions which
- may be different from those allowed to other Mac's on the network.
-
- When used on a diskless Mac, TDM will initiate a startup volume in the form of
- a RAM Disk which contains the master system image. The RAM Disk offers
- significantly higher performance than a standard hard disk drive. In addition,
- if AppleShare (or other types) file or print servers are being used on the
- network, they are also connected to while booting from TDM.
-
- In addition to being compatible with AppleTalk, TDM can be used in UNIX
- environments (such as A/UX). The software necessary to accomplish this is
- included with the TDM package.
-
- The Diskless Mac product will work with ethernet boards from Sonic Systems,
- Apple, Asanté, and 3Com. The retail price for TDM is $149 per node. All Sonic
- Systems products have a five year warranty and unlimited technical support.
- For further information regarding TDM or other Sonic Systems products, please
- call (408) 736-1900.
-
- Sonic Systems designs and manufactures high performance communications products
- for the Apple Macintosh. Ranging from high-speed Ethernet boards to network
- management software, Sonic Systems is dedicated to developing products
- implementing the latest in communications technology and offering the end-user
- the highest performance features for the best value.
- -30-
-
- Editor’s Note:
- Apple, Macintosh, EtherTalk and LocalTalk are trademarks of Apple Computer,
- Inc.
- Ethernet is a trademark of Xerox Corp.
- The Diskless Mac is a trademark of Sonic Systems, Inc.
-
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