Targa Electronics Integrates BiTMICRO E-Disk Solid-State Storage Technology in Series 4 Data Transfer System (DTS)

Cost Effective DTS Portable Storage Solution Addresses Military and Aerospace High Demand for Extreme Systems Reliability, Agility and Performance

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Oct 22, 2001 -- Targa Electronics Systems, Inc., accelerating its leadership in providing solid-state data storage solutions, today introduced the removable Series 4 Data Transfer System (DTS). To meet the increasing military and aerospace demands for high capacity, extremely reliable and superior performance removable storage, Targa chose to integrate BiTMICRO Networks' patented E-Disk FlashBus technology in their DTS Flash Disk storage component.

The Targa Series 4 DTS, designed to meet the most demanding MIL-STD-810 and RTCA DO-160 environments, provides a "removable" infrastructure to support the transport of Targa SCSI Flash Disks between "mission platforms" and ground based data preparation or data retrieval systems.

"Making decisions strictly based on storage hardware comparisons is a trap many companies fall into. And in the end, they pay for it dearly," commented Dave Saunders, Targa's vice president of engineering. "The total value of Targa's Series 4 DTS, equipped with BiTMICRO's E-Disk technology, shines because of its manageability, scalability and superior overall performance. It is easy to integrate in wide variety of military and aerospace applications."

"The Series 4 DTS provides the high capacities (>5.0 GB) and high speed data transfer (18 MB/sec) that is required in today's demanding military and aerospace applications, such as map displays, imaging, and mission loads. We chose the BiTMICRO technology because it helps us meet our customer's system requirements," said Joe Fronsee, Targa's vice president of marketing and sales.

Targa's Series 4 DTS, consisting of a Data Transfer Unit (DTU) and removable Data Transfer Device (DTD), provides a compact self-contained system to store and retrieve data from Targa's 2.5-inch SCSI Flash Disk Drives. It is ruggedized for severe military and aerospace applications. The DTS disk carrier connector is rated at >100,000 insertion/removals. The clamping mechanisms are designed to withstand high shock and vibration.

The small, lightweight and rugged DTU is designed as a panel mount (DZUS rail) unit per MS25212C at K=4, supports input power of +28 VDC or +5 VDC and is equipped with a locking access door, incorporating door open detection and DTD power shut down features.

The DTD features SCSI-2 or SCSI-3 interfaces with up to 5.1GB flash drive storage capacities and access time to less than 0.1 ms. Its sustained read and write data transfer rates of up to 18 MBytes/sec make this product perfect for use with airborne maps as well as other high speed data transfer applications. Entire flashdisk media security erase is very fast -- 2GB/sec (typical). Read bit error rate is less than 10 to the minus 20.

The Series 4 DTS, utilizing BiTMICRO's E-Disk FlashBus technology, is fully compatible with Linux, Solaris, Windows, MacOS and LynxOS using standard drivers. It also supports AIX, FreeBSD, HP-UX, IRIX, NetBSD, OS/2, QNX, VxWorks, SCO Unixware and OpenServer, Solaris x86 and Tru64.

"Our relationship with Targa has been a win-win situation for both companies and our customers. We are both committed to a common goal -- strive for the enhanced interoperability, performance, reliability and convenience of building storage configurations that will benefit our solid-state storage users," said Rudy Bruce, president of BiTMICRO. "We are determined to make this initiative a monumental success and to work closely with Targa in supporting the demands of our military and aerospace customers."

Targa's other products such as VME25 6U Flash Disk and the THPS removable flash disks, carriers and holders implement BiTMICRO's patented E-Disk FlashBus technology.

Contact Targa Electronics at its marketing offices for additional DTS information at (704) 708-4720, sales@targasystems.com or visit www.targasystems.com.

For BiTMICRO Networks E-Disk technology information, call 510-74E-DISK / 510-743-3475 or visit www.bitmicro.com.

About Targa Electronics Systems

Targa Electronics Systems, Inc., founded in 1981, is a leading supplier of ruggedized solid-state data storage products for the military and aerospace markets. Targa provides COTS, as well as custom and modified-COTS storage solutions. For further information, contact Targa Sales at 704-708-4720, sales@targasystems.com or visit www.targasystems.com.

About BiTMICRO Networks

BiTMICRO Networks, Inc. (www.bitmicro.com), a privately held California corporation, is the world's premier supplier of high performance solid-state disk drive and storage management solutions. BiTMICRO's storage solutions offer unmatched performance, data availability, and manageability across a spectrum of platforms from entry systems to super computers.

E-Disk™, FlashBus™, BiTMICRO™ and BiTMICRO Networks™ are trademarks of BiTMICRO Networks, Inc. Others are trademarks of their respective companies or other countries.