Hanover, 1. March 2006
++++ Press Release ++++
SiliconSystems Introduces the Industry’s First Self-Monitoring Solid-State Drive 

Short summary:
From now on, all SiliconDrive™ products of the Californian manufacturer SiliconSystems come equipped with the new SiSMART™. This new patent pending technology monitors the write/erase cycles of the flash cells in the cards and drives. This way it is possible to predict the remaining life span of the products and to plan the future usage.
Press release:
SiliconSystems, Inc., the world leader in storage technology engineered exclusively for the enterprise system OEM market, today announced a breakthrough storage system monitoring and usage technology called SiSMART™. This new, patent-pending technology accurately monitors storage system usage to predict useable life, and is incorporated into the company’s entire SiliconDrive™ product line. By monitoring read/write activity, SiSMART technology provides users of solid-state storage systems a level of confidence and accuracy about the viability of their storage solutions previously unobtainable.
SiSMART technology constantly monitors and reports the exact amount of storage system useable life available allowing users to make any necessary adjustments or schedule preventative maintenance to ensure system availability and data integrity. SiSMART technology is ideal for enterprise system OEM applications in the netcom, military, industrial, interactive kiosk and medical markets.

“Solid-state storage technology offers major benefits over rotating disk drives, such as added security and unmatched ruggedness, but until now there were valid concerns about the inability to accurately predict storage system lifespan,” said Michael Hajeck, CEO at SiliconSystems. “After receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from some of our most demanding tier-one customers regarding the accuracy and dependability of our SiSMART technology, we decided to include this breakthrough technology in our complete line of SiliconDrive products.”
Solid-state drive lifespan is becoming a topic of concern among analysts, according to Gartner Senior Analyst Joseph Unsworth. “There is a strong need in the market for a means to track drive usage and make more accurate predictions concerning lifespan. Technology that enables customers to have the ability to set their own parameters and anticipate when problems will arise with their drives will be attractive in order to manage risk.”
Rotating hard disk drives employ Self Monitoring and Reporting Technology (SMART), which was designed to act as an early warning system for pending problems with mechanical media. Though this technology is useful for monitoring wear on rotating hard disk drives, it cannot be used to monitor the useful life of a solid-state drive. Since solid-state storage products have no moving parts many of the parameters monitored by the SMART function are not applicable.
Solid-state storage components, which are the fundamental building blocks of every solid-state drive, can lose the ability to retain programmed data after hundreds of thousands to millions of write/erase cycles. With no method to determine or predict when write/erase cycle endurance will be exceeded, a solid-state storage product is typically allowed to operate until it ultimately fails, leading to unscheduled system down times and significant data loss.
In contrast to SMART, SiSMART monitors how many write/erase cycles have occurred on a solid-state storage system -- the only real failure mechanism present in solid-state storage. By incorporating a patent-pending algorithm that tracks all data transactions internally in the SiliconDrive, SiSMART is able to accurately monitor and report storage system usage to the host system. This enables users to model future usage, set thresholds to perform maintenance and adjust data collection requirements to match the required life of the deployed equipment. 
Beginning in February 2006, SiliconSystems’ entire SiliconDrive product offering will come equipped with both SiSMART technology and the company’s patented PowerArmor™ technology. PowerArmor is another innovative technology from SiliconSystems that was developed to eliminate storage system field failures by virtually eliminating drive corruption and data loss in the event of unexpected power disturbances. SiliconDrives equipped with SiSMART and PowerArmor will provide a level of data integrity and data reliability never previously available.
++++ Company Contact ++++

altec ComputerSysteme GmbH
Bayernstr. 10
30855 Langenhagen, Germany
Phone +49-511-9 83 81-0
Fax     +49-511-9 83 81-49
E-Mail: info@altec-cs.com
http://www.altec-cs.com

++++ Media Contact ++++

Ms. Katrin Brussa
Public Relations
Bayernstr. 10
30855 Langenhagen, Germany
Phone +49-511-9 83 81-86
Fax     +49-511-9 83 81-49
E-Mail: kbrussa@altec-cs.com
http://www.altec-cs.com

++++ About altec ComputerSysteme ++++

altec ComputerSysteme GmbH designs, manufactures and markets Flash data storage products, Solid-State-Disks and CopyStations for various flash memory card products in the industrial and commercial computer marketplace. altec also designs customer specific applications in hard- and software according to valid industry standards and is active in application engineering and technical support for customers in this environment. 

The company is one of the leading SanDisk distributors in Europe and exclusive distributor for Industrial Flash products from SiliconSystems in Germany and for Memtech Solid State Drives in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. altec ComputerSysteme has been certified ISO 9001:2000 in December 2004.
++++ About SiliconSystems ++++
SiliconSystems is the world leader in storage technology engineered exclusively for the high performance, high reliability, multi-year product lifecycle requirements of the Enterprise System OEM market. The company’s patented and patent-pending SiliconDrive technology meets the rigorous demands of applications in the netcom, military, industrial, interactive kiosk and medical markets. SiliconSystems is based in Aliso Viejo, California. Additional company and product information is available on the company’s website at www.siliconsystems.com