Vinca announces StandbyServer for NT - high availability and disaster recovery for Microsoft application server

Business Wire, March 26, 1996

OREM, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 26, 1996--Vinca Corp.(R), a leading supplier of business continuation products, Tuesday announced StandbyServer(TM) for NT(TM), the first real-time server mirroring solution for Microsoft's premier application server, Windows NT Server.

StandbyServer is now the only server-mirroring technology to provide solutions for enterprise, heterogeneous networks which include the three leading network operating systems: Windows NT Server, NetWare and OS/2(TM) Warp Server.

"StandbyServer for NT delivers on Vinca's promise of phase one server clustering for customers of Windows NT Server," said Jay Carlson, president, Vinca Corp.

"This product combines our years of experience in server clustering, or server mirroring, into a solution that can eliminate expensive downtime for critical Windows NT based application servers. Customers have been asking for a Windows NT solution for months; we're excited to be able to meet their needs."

StandbyServer for NT is a real-time, transaction-based solution that mirrors data simultaneously to a standby machine via a dedicated industry standard link. When the main server fails, due to any hardware or software failure, the product can automatically switch operations to the standby machine.

Users experience a momentary delay, but they do not need to re-establish their network connection. Since there is an up-to-the-moment copy of all data on the standby machine, users have access to all their data even when the main server fails. Switch-over parameters are user definable and can be customized to meet the needs of all organizations.

StandbyServer for NT takes advantage of Windows NT's built-in system management capabilities to provide features such as remote error logging and remote monitoring.

Microsoft Perspective

"We are pleased that Vinca is planning to offer StandbyServer for Windows NT Server," said Mike Nash, group product manager, Windows NT Server at Microsoft Corp. "The fact that they are delivering StandbyServer is great for their customers."

Customer Perspective

"With StandbyServer for NT, Vinca is adding the value of phase one server clustering for Windows NT Server; users can now have automatic fail-over to another server," said Mark Kapczynski, chairman, Los Angeles Windows NT User Group. "Users of Windows NT Server can be confident there are solutions to protect data on mission critical application servers like Windows NT, plus provide high availability to this environment."

Only Multi-Platform, Non-Proprietary Fault Tolerant Product

With the introduction and shipment of StandbyServer for NT, organizations using more than one network operating system across the enterprise can standardize on one fault tolerant solution. StandbyServer is the only system that protects companies from downtime on all mission critical servers running NT and other leading network operating systems, saving money and time on network administration and product training.

StandbyServer for NT supports Intel EtherExpress PRO/100 and IBM's 100/10 PCI Ethernet Adapter with support for other network interface cards to follow in the near future. This product also uses standard network cabling as the dedicated link between the main server and the standby machine. In the near future, support for fiber cabling will be added to allow the standby machine to be located on another floor or in another building to provide disaster recovery.

Additional Benefits

-- The primary server and the secondary server do not need to be identical. Customers can extend the life of older hardware and preserve their initial investment.

-- StandbyServer for NT operates as a simple device driver. It does not require any modifications to the network operating system.

Availability and Pricing

StandbyServer will be available at the end of April through qualified Vinca resellers and distributors. The product is software only, network interface cards must be ordered separately from Intel or IBM suppliers. The price is $2,999 in the United States. For more information call 800/934-9530 or your nearest reseller.

Vinca Corp. is a privately held company and creator of the Storage Access Networking (SAN) architecture for computer networks. Vinca's business continuation products provide fault tolerance, backup facilitation and disaster recovery solutions for organizations needing increased data accessibility. Vinca was founded in 1990.

CONTACT: Vinca Corp., Orem

Susan Richards, 801/223-3100

or

Network Associates, Provo

Sherri Walkenhorst or Holly Hagerman, 801/373-7888