FREMONT, CALIFORNIA, USA (March 2, 1998) - ZNYX Corporation today announced RAINlink, a robust software solution providing network link services, including link aggregation and failover, for reliable intranet connectivity. The newest member of ZNYX’s RAIN™ family of reliable network solutions, RAINlink offers transparent protection against link failures at the adapter, hub, switch or cable in bandwidth-critical applications running Microsoft Windows NT. Designed to operate with all Windows NT-supported protocols and to be compatible with a wide variety of network interface cards, including 3Com and Intel, this flexible software solution also leverages current network investments in network topologies and network speeds. High bandwidth is further achieved by dynamic load balancing capabilities across aggregated links.

RAINlink utilizes multiple network ports to establish a redundant path between servers, switches, workstations and desktops. By eliminating the need to reconfigure Windows NT network protocol stacks and to re-learn Layer 2 MAC addresses by clients, RAINlink is able to detect and correct network link failures transparently - in as little as 500 milliseconds. The product’s link aggregation capabilities are compatible with Cisco’s Fast EtherChannel (FEC) technology, which allows multiple network ports and adapters to be aggregated to form a single, logical link with increased bandwidth, resiliency and redundancy. This compatibility thereby ensures interoperability with FEC-enabled Cisco Catalyst 5000 and 2900 XL series and other switches for maximum network backbone throughput. ZNYX also plans to comply with industry standard trunking schemes expected to be ratified later this year.

"Not only does RAINlink provide truly transparent failover capabilities, but its compatibility with a variety of network adapters offers cost-effective, reliable network connectivity without requiring a ‘forklift upgrade’," acknowledges Mark Andona, Technical Specialist at enterprise solutions provider Maxim Computer Systems Corporation. "Furthermore, this solution is fully capable of growing with my network; this will prove to be especially beneficial as we migrate to higher-speed topologies such as Gigabit Ethernet, and as industry standard trunking schemes become adopted."

RAINlink is upgradeable to ZNYX accelerated Redundant Array of Independent Netports™ (RAIN) technology. This innovative, scalable technology provides five service levels in a "building block" fashion using industry standards for switching, clustering, security, data integrity and multimedia data streams. Since the introduction of RAIN and its Level 1 and Level 2 products (RAINswitch™ and RAINcluster™ respectively), RAIN has gained strong market acceptance in the networking industry comparable to RAID in the disk drive industry.

"ZNYX RAIN is an open technology that delivers reliable, flexible, network connectivity solutions regardless of network topology, speed, or hardware," adds Jim Hsia, Vice President of Marketing at ZNYX. "We aim to satisfy three key user needs: reliability of network links, incremental bandwidth scalability, and protection of current investments in network topologies - we continue to deliver on that promise with RAINlink." RAINlink is optimized to work with ZNYX NetBlaster™ adapters, and by a function of the RISConnect™ feature inherent on ZNYX adapters, can be upgraded to take advantage of the full suite of RAIN products, including on-board processing, management and security.

ZNYX RAINlink software is available at a list price of $199 (single copies) in March. All ZNYX products are made in the USA and are available through its OEM, reseller and system integrator business partners. A limited edition of RAINlink is also available for evaluation at no charge from ZNYX’s website in March.

• RAINlink