Node™, The New Standard For Digital Storage Technology, Makes Debut At Nab 2008–

Las Vegas/NAB, April 14, 2008 – “NODE™” will instantly set a new industry standard for digital storage technology when the product is unveiled at NAB 2008 by Archion, the media and entertainment industry’s leading provider of intelligent storage solutions for content creation. Archion will be exhibiting during NAB at Booth #: SL 728.

During NAB, Archion will also be demonstrating two of its other new, state of the art storage solution products: Synergy HDδ™ (Delta,) and Synergy HDu™.

“Since our company’s inception almost 10 years ago, we have developed our products based on intense research and client outreach. We have proven these efforts with all of our products, especially with our Synergy HDu™ line, which seamlessly attaches to an Avid Unity™ system without any hiccups, while providing the client with RAID 5 protection. Many storage companies have attempted to achieve this in the past, but only Archion has successfully done so,” said Mark Bianchi, Archion’s CEO.

“In our latest customer research, we have learned that our clients are seeking more powerful storage solutions to meet their increasingly challenging demands. However, networked storage technologies still remain very costly and complicated. Our new NODE™ product addresses this dilemma, and represents a major step forward for our industry. Archion can now deliver extremely powerful storage capabilities to a broader market,” Bianchi added.

Reuben Lima, COO of Archion, said, “NODE™ answers many of the challenges facing HD content today. NODE™ is unequivocally our most intelligent and performance-driven system to date, and is ready to meet the future requirements of HD content. This new product delivers a compelling performance unrivaled by any system currently on the market. As with all Archion storage systems, NODE™ has been engineered to withstand technological evolution, and was designed to be compatible with future technologies, thus carrying our clients to the next level.”

Lima concludes, “Our commitment to working closely with broadcasters, studios, facilities and rental houses has been the key to our success. We listen to our customers and we respond with new technology that meets their increasing content creation requirements. Archion remains exclusively dedicated to the storage space in the media and entertainment industries, with products designed to eliminate the complexities associated with digital storage, while at the same time anticipating the demands of the future.”

ABOUT NODE™:

Archion’s NODE™ systems are available in two models, NODE 800™ and NODE 2400™, and will be available through the company’s extensive network of authorized resellers immediately following NAB 2008.

Among the features of the NODE 800™:

  • Offers eight drives with independent SAS channels supporting up to 8TB of storage, with four 4-gig ports. All drives are SMART capable for status analysis.
  • Supports multiple RAID sets, multiple hosts, LUN masking and storage provisioning of all Vdiscs on both ports for switch-less file sharing.
  • Upgradeable to 8 GIG Fibre Channel; provides 800 Megabytes per second.
  • Each Node™ 800 has the ability to support multiple clients simultaneously; combining Node™ boxes increases client support.
  • Mac and PC Client compatible. Provides 1 Gig of cache RAM tuned for digital video applications.
  • Comes with complete system software.

In addition to those cited above, the features of the NODE 2400™ also include:

  • Configured with up to 24 drives through 4 ports, supporting capacities of up to 24 TB’s of RAID storage. All drives are SMART capable.
  • Upgradeable to 8 Gig Fibre Channel.
  • Provides multiple streams up to 1200 MB’s per second.
  • Full compatibility with 1, 2 and 4 Gig fibre channel architecture.

ABOUT SYNERGY HDδ™ (Delta:)

Synergy HDδ™ (Delta) is the newest addition to the Archion Synergy family of FC Raid storage products for Digital Video systems. It extends the Synergy HD™ abilities to a full 800 MB/sec bandwidth with its dual 4GB FC ports and has increased its capacity to 12TB.

Said Jim Tucci, Archion’s CTO, “We developed our new Synergy HDδ™ (Delta) system because the industry wants high throughput network-able storage systems at a competitive price for content creation. This product is primarily for the Final Cut Pro space, for workflows in the 4:4:4 video and 2K and 4K file arenas and for use during the digital intermediate process. Synergy HDδ™ (Delta) can handle very high bandwidth workflow demands, and has the ability to add multiple work stations to the primary storage system.”

Synergy HDδ provides full 4 gig FC performance for today’s Digital Video SAN’s. Synergy HDδ storage systems deliver 4, 6, 8, 12 or 16TB (Terabytes) of storage in a compact 3 rack unit design with 16 drive chassis. The Synergy HDδ line has a built-in hardware RAID to manage the storage more efficiently and automatically rebuilds a faulty drive, so the rest of the network is unaffected by any drive failure.

ABOUT SYNERGY HDu™:

Synergy HDu™ is Archion’s newest storage solution for use with Avid Unity™ and the latest entry in Archion’s Multi Award-winning line of Synergy HD™ FC Raid storage products for digital video systems. Several Archion Synergy HDu™ systems were recently acquired by 20th Century Fox for four films, “The Day The Earth Stood Still,” “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “Night at the Museum: Escape from the Smithsonian,” and “They Came from Upstairs.”

Archion’s client, Kory Voxen, Director, Digital Editing Operations, 20th Century Fox Feature Films, said, “We are currently using Archion’s Synergy HDu™ storage systems for four of our major upcoming films. Currently we’re running our Archion Synergy HDu’s configured in RAID 5. This maximizes our storage space yet maintains the bandwidth needed for the demands of our HD cutting rooms. The safety and redundancy involved with RAID 5 gives us the protection we need as well.”

Mr. Voxen added, “Archion’s Synergy HDu™ is invisible to the Avid user and has integrated perfectly with our older technology infrastructure. Archion seems to have done a great deal of R&D to offer a product that just plugs right in and allows you to start cutting in high definition immediately. As our storage needs continue to increase, the need for inexpensive, reliable, high-bandwidth storage remains a constant. I’m really happy with Archion’s products and I am planning to buy more of them in the near future.”

Adds K.C. Najarian, Major Accounts Manager at Key Code Media, who managed the opportunity between Fox and Archion, “Archion has filled a market gap for my clients who own older Avid Unity MediaNet™ systems and who need to expand their storage requirements. The Archion Synergy HDu™ storage product is perfect for my clients who decide to upgrade, since it works with the latest Avid Unity™ system. Synergy HDu™ provides additional expansion and RAID, which will, in this case, allow 20th Century Fox Feature Films post production group to prolong the life of their initial Avid Unity™ investment.”

Synergy HDu™ provides a full 400 MB/sec bandwidth with its dual 2GB FC ports and has increased its capacity to 12TB. According to Archion executives, its Avid Unity™ compatibility and abilities are unmatched. Keeping with the Synergy™ standard of legacy compatibility, Synergy HDu™ is fully compatible with 1gig, 2gig and 4gig Unity, and also has loop-out capability, a removable controller and complete compatibility with all Avid Unity™ systems, including Avid MediaEngine 5.0.™

ABOUT ARCHION:

Based in Burbank, CA, Archion is the entertainment industry’s premiere, turn-key digital media storage solution company, providing its clients with systems that are seamless in operation. Founded by a team of technology and entertainment industry entrepreneurs, technicians and post-production professionals in l999, Archion’s products have now been utilized on over 60 major Hollywood feature films, notably Robert Zemeckis’ “Beowulf.”

The Archion family of storage products is comprised of: Synergy HDu™, the multi Award-winning product Synergy HD™, Synergy Ls™, Alliance™ and Alliance Pro™. Archion regularly designs and delivers expanded technology systems based on the ever-growing demands of its diverse, global clientele. For more information about Archion, please visit: www.archion.com or call 818/840-0777.

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Media Contact:
Dan Harary
Asbury Communications
310/859-1831
dan@asburypr.com

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