Thursday November 20, 9:28 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Ariel's RASCAL Gets A+ from Internet Week
Open Remote Access Solution Gets High Marks for Performance and Ease of Installation
CRANBURY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 20, 1997--Ariel Corp. (NASDAQ:ADSP - news) Thursday announced
the results of an independent test performed by Internet Week Labs on its RASCAL RS1000 remote access solution for
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - news) Windows NT servers.
In a head-to-head test of four 56K remote access servers, each with integrated T1/PRI and a minimum of 24 ports,
RASCAL received the highest marks for performance and ease of installation.
Internet Week tested remote access servers from Ariel, 3COM (NASDAQ:COMS - news), Ascend (NYSE:ASND -
news) and Multi-Tech. Of these, Ariel's RASCAL was the only open-system remote access server (RAS) solution tested.
RASCAL is an Open RAS solution for Windows NT Server that provides the physical connections needed for remote
dial-in and LAN dial-out. The RASCAL RS1000 transforms Windows NT servers into full-featured 56K (56 kbps), ISDN
(64 kbps) and V.34 (33.6 kbps) remote access servers.
Utilizing the latest Routing and Remote Access Services provided by Windows NT, the RS1000 gives corporate IT and MIS
managers an out-of-the-box solution for adding up to 48 ports of remote access to Windows NT servers and integrating it
with the corporate LAN.
Keith Schultz, who conducted the test for Internet Week Labs using a Series II central office phone line simulator, gave
RASCAL an A+ for performance and an A for ease of installation. ''Sometimes,'' said Schultz, ''the biggest surprises come
in the smallest packages. The RASCAL RS1000 from Ariel showed the other 56K servers how to send data across the
wire.''
Schultz was especially impressed with RASCAL's performance. ''Ariel is the surprise performer in our 56K roundup,
posting some of the fastest transfers we've ever seen. The RASCAL posted by far the best performance numbers of the
bunch on the clean-line text file transfers. It completed the 3-megabyte text file transfer in an amazing 221.9 seconds, which
works out to about 165.26 kbps. In the real world, the RASCAL RS1000 is still a consistent performer, posting
better-than-average transfer rates under varying line conditions.''
Schultz also found RASCAL to be the easiest to install of the four remote access servers tested. ''The installation steps are
explained well and each step is well documented,'' remarked Schultz. ''All told, we went from nothing to ready-to-run in
about an hour.''
''With the servers we tested,'' added Schultz, ''configuring the T1 interface is usually what gives us the most difficulty. Not so
with RASCAL's software installation. Not only does it automatically detect your hardware settings, it can also 'sniff out' your
T1 settings. If you want to set the T1 parameters by hand, you can do so from a single page in Ariel's RASCALadmin
application. Ariel has also built in a wide range of T1 service settings, so there should be no problem matching up to any
service.''
Overall, Schultz described RASCAL as cost-effective for small companies, but robust enough for large installations. ''If you
have NT servers in your organization and are looking for a cost-effective way to provide 56K access,'' advised Schultz,
''you may want to take a good look at RASCAL.''
More on RASCAL
The RASCAL RS1000 is an open systems, PC-based remote access server (RAS) solution for Windows NT Server. The
RS1000 combines up to 48 56-kbps Rockwell (NYSE:ROK - news) K56flex modems with a pair of T1/Primary Rate
ISDN interfaces.
RASCAL interoperates with digital 56-kbps K56flex modems, 64-kbps basic rate ISDN customer premises equipment and
analog 33.6-kbps V.34 modems, supporting up to 48 simultaneous remote access sessions. Support for autorate fallbacks
enables RASCAL to operate at the highest speed supported by the subscriber modem.
RASCAL Open RAS technology makes remote access easy and reduces overall cost of ownership. RASCAL requires no
external boxes, no proprietary software, no fussing with wires and power supplies, and minimal staff training. All MIS/IT
managers need do is install the RASCAL's PC board set inside an NT Server, run a simply utility, and they're up and running
with remote access in less than one hour.
More on Ariel
Ariel Corp. (NASDAQ:ADSP - news) offers the industry's highest density and most cost-effective remote access data
solutions for open systems platforms. The company's high-density RASCAL, T1-Modem+, and T1-Modem PC-based
modem pools, which support 56-kbps, V.34+ and ISDN remote access sessions, connect to T1, E1, ISDN and POTS
lines.
Ariel's remote access products target open systems servers spanning a broad range of applications including telecommuting,
Internet access, corporate Intranet and Extranet access, online services, transaction processing and unified messaging. The
company is also developing ADSL systems for high-speed remote access applications.
For more information on Ariel products, please contact Ariel Corp. at 2540 Route 130, Cranbury, N.J. 08512. Phone:
609/860-2900. Fax: 609/860-1155. E-mail: rascal@ariel.com. World Wide Web: www.ariel.com/rascal .
Ariel, Open RAS, RASCAL, RASCAL RS1000 and RASCALadmin are trademarks or tradenames of Ariel. All other
trademarks or tradenames are the property of their respective owners. |
