Rorke StudioNet-FC Now Supports Both
NT and Apple Macintosh
Las Vegas, NV, NAB99, Booth #16554/LVCC, April 19, 1999 — Rorke Data announced today that the company has released an upgrade to its high bandwidth Fibre Channel workgroup solution, StudioNet-FC, that expands the system's user base to heterogeneous platform environments using both Macintosh and NT workstations.
Since its introduction in August, 1997, StudioNet-FC has been available for the Apple Macintosh platform. Rorke spokesperson Bob Herzan, Director of Worldwide A/V Sales, said the preponderance of the company's customers, including its StudioNet-FC users, now use both Macintosh and NT workstations, requiring the development and release of the new version. Rorke OEM partner Richard Doll of Fast Multimedia U.S., Inc., Seattle, WA, concurred.
"StudioNet-FC opens the door to incredible workflow increases," said Doll, Fast Multimedia's General Manager. "All of the workstations on our network can now use the same files. By simply eliminating the process of having to copy files, we've greatly improved our efficiency."
The new version of StudioNet-FC is a high bandwidth Fibre Channel work group solution for animators, editors and special effects designers that offers simultaneous support for applications that utilize a mix of Macintosh and NT-based digital video and audio workstations.
With StudioNet-FC, users can all share common storage at Fibre Channel speeds, administering and sharing multiple terabytes of high-speed serial storage between video, audio and graphics workstations. The system requires no additional Ethernet connections or second control structure, allows multiple administrators to login and assign privileges to users and groups in the network, and runs native with the user's current operating system.
StudioNet-FC integrates with Rorke Data's Galaxy RAID products to provide scaleable Fibre Channel storage (72GB to 25TB). The Galaxy RAID Series allows users a choice of Fibre Channel to Fibre Channel interconnectivity with the Galaxy 50 Series or a Fibre Channel to SCSI (LVD) Galaxy 5 solution that bridges the gap between Legacy SCSI storage and today's Fibre Channel switches and hubs.
"The Galaxy RAID component of the StudioNet-FC solution has been designed so that users can either start with the latest Fibre Channel to Fibre Channel connectivity or leverage their current invest-ment in SCSI storage products," said Bob Herzan, Director of Worldwide A/V Sales, Rorke Data.
StudioNet-FC's new true-fabric switch offers a cost-effective starting-point to implement fast, reliable, and scalable switched Fibre Channel networks. The StudioNet-FC switch provides interoperability between switches and hubs, building on existing architecture to enable full-speed Fibre Channel networking. Drop-in switching achieves the simplest possible migration from an arbitrated loop to switched-fabric, eliminating the need for reconfiguration of other components, to deliver maximum speed and scalability to Fibre Channel-based storage networks.
Rorke Data is a full digital storage solutions provider with expertise in SAN-connectivity, FC RAID, high performance tape and optical libraries, Unix, NT and Mac environments, high bandwidth networks, digital asset and document management, and engineering and maintenance services. Founded in 1985, Rorke Data is a privately held Minnesota corporation. Together with its European subsidiary, Rorke Data Europe, located in Emmen, The Netherlands, the company is composed of six divisions: Audio/Video, Prepress, Imaging, Document Management, Digital Media Supplies, and Engineering and Installation Services. More information about Rorke Data can be found at www.rorke.com.
