Press Release
Press Contacts:
Stephen Mitchell
Vice President,
Worldwide Field Operations
Starlight Networks, Inc.
415/ 967-2774 ext. 6283
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mary Lindsay
Lindsay PR
408/ 984-7242
Starlight Networks Announces StarWare 2.0, a Price/Performance
Breakthrough for Multimedia Servers - StarWare 2.0 Supports Up to 100 Users
of Broadcast-Quality Video on PC-Class Multimedia Servers
Comdex, Las Vegas, NV, November 13, 1995 -- Starlight Networks is establishing
a new benchmark for price/performance in multimedia networking with
the next generation of its StarWare® multimedia networking software,
which turns a Novell NetWare PC into a high-performance multimedia server,
supporting up to 100 users with broadcast-quality MPEG-1 video.
Previously, only much more expensive platforms have been able to support
this many users with high-bandwidth multimedia data. With StarWare 2.0 on
powerful, off-the-shelf PC-class servers, Starlight continues its leadership
in delivering the best price/performance multimedia networking solutions
on the market.
StarWare 2.0 supports up to 150 megabits/sec (Mbps) of streaming data, giving
networked users high-speed access to true multimedia applications that allow
the users to mix and match high-bandwidth graphics, images, video, and text,
all from an off-the-shelf PC server. The new price point established by
StarWare 2.0 software makes it affordable and feasible for companies and
workgroups to take advantage of new client/server multimedia applications
that turn single-use CD-ROMs into multi-use, centrally administered digital
libraries. Other emerging applications allow corporate professionals to:
index video libraries for quick browsing; navigate video databases for marketing
communications; create on-demand product videos; search corporate broadcasts
by key words; create videoconferencing audit trails; and more.
Installed as a Novell NetWare loadable module (NLM), Starlight's new StarWare
2.0 software provides an affordable, easy-to-install and administer software
solution that allows a company to add multimedia to its existing network,
without the often major and expensive effort of network upgrades. For better
monitoring and management of the video network StarWare 2.0 provides sophisticated
controls to network administrators. StarWare 2.0 can also be added to existing
NetWare servers, bringing quality multimedia services to the large Novell
installed base.
"Companies are more likely to take advantage of distributed multimedia
applications when they realize they can afford to deliver multimedia to
users at their desktops from their familiar NetWare servers," said
Jim Long, president of Starlight Networks. "Combining the strengths
of NetWare with Starlight's multimedia networking technology results in
a price/performance breakthrough that delivers the industry's best quality
and reliability for full-performance video delivery on corporate networks."
Starlight has established a leadership position supporting training-on-demand
to the desktop, and expects that StarWare 2.0s ease-of-installation and
affordability will give it even greater advantages in this market, especially
for educational institutions, long-distance learning, corporate and independent
training centers, and workgroup training. Starlight is currently working
with several independent software vendors (ISVs), such as J3 and Reality
Interactive, to enable network-based training centers.
Because StarWare 2.0 operates as an NLM on a NetWare server, companies do
not need to add a separate video server to their network and may choose
to run video along with other network services on a single server. StarWare
2.0 coexists with other network functions on the server, such as directory,
file, and print services. Or, the server can be dedicated in order to support
a maximum amount of multimedia traffic.
StarWare 2.0 supports up to 150 Mbps of high-bandwidth streaming data in
real time. The number of users supported depends on the video format used
and any additional networking services supported by the NetWare server.
For example, StarWare 2.0 will deliver MPEG-1 video at 1.5 Mbps to up to
100 simultaneous users when the NetWare server is dedicated to multimedia.
It also supports all of the other popular video formats on PCs, including
MPEG-2, Video for Windows, Indeo, PLV, Motion JPEG, and QuickTime.
StarWare 2.0 features enhanced management tools for controlling and tuning
video delivery performance. A network administrator is able to control the
capacity of the server, the number of video streams, and the maximum bandwidth
reserved for multimedia on each network segment, as well as the status of
logged-on clients, server parameters and CPU status. StarWare 2.0 management
tools allow the network to be partitioned to manage audio, video, and data
separately or together, depending upon the environment and application needs
of the user.
StarWare 2.0 features Starlight's patented streaming middleware technologies,
which provide client connectivity and streaming services. Starlight's middleware
optimizes network delivery with traffic shaping, rate control, and reservation
subsystems, such that existing networks are used more efficiently for streaming
video, without intruding on traditional LAN traffic. Any Starlight client
(PC or Macintosh) application can access any Starlight server product line,
including StarWare 2.0 or StarWorks® products. Users can start with
StarWare 2.0 on a NetWare server and easily scale to StarWorks on UNIX systems
to accommodate growing application needs across the enterprise.
StarWare 2.0 is machine-independent and takes advantage of performance improvements
made to system hardware, such as to the bus, video, and LAN cards, etc.,
making system upgrades easy. It supports PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)
systems and Pentium PCs, as well as Intel 80486 PCs on the server side.
On the client side StarWare 2.0 supports DOS PCs, Windows PCs, and Macintosh
clients on a variety of networks, including 10BaseT, 100BaseT, 100VG AnyLAN,
FDDI, ATM, and Token-Ring. StarWare 2.0 supports any NetWare-compatible
mass storage, including third-party RAID 0-5 disk arrays.
Pricing and Availability
StarWare 2.0 software will be available mid-December 1995. A multimedia
server pre-configured with StarWare 2.0 on HP's NetServer supporting 50
concurrent users (or 75 Mbps), and storing 20 hours of MPEG-1 video will
be approximately $28,000. Pricing for StarWare 2.0 software only is as follows:
10 users at $4,995; 25 users at $9,995; 50 users at $17,995; and 100 users
at $34,995.
About Starlight Networks
Starlight Networks is the leader in providing multimedia services over enterprise
networks with its StarWorks and StarWare multimedia networking server software
products. StarWorks and StarWare provide multimedia storage management and
network delivery management functions to ensure reliable delivery of video
and audio to the desktop over today's networks, including 10BaseT, 100VG,
Fast Ethernet, Token-Ring, FDDI, and ATM. StarWorks' open systems approach
supports all of the popular video formats and network operating systems
on PCs, Macintosh, and UNIX systems. StarWare is a Novell NetWare-based
video networking software solution.
Starlight Networks is located at 205 Ravendale Drive, Mountain View, CA
94043; phone 415/967-2774; home page http://www.starlight.com.
# # #
StarWare, StarWorks, Starlight, and Starlight Networks are registered
trademarks of Starlight Networks, Inc. All other products are trademarks
of their respective owners.
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