(April 13, 1999)

Milpitas, CA - DISC Inc. (NASDAQ: DCSR), a leading manufacturer of automated library solutions for enterprise storage, introduced today a new Media Management System (MiMS) for its Orion Series of storage libraries. The new system is the first of its kind for optical storage libraries and dramatically reduces the time required to inventory and initialize the library. The system is based on a portable barcode module the size of 2 pieces of media. The MiMS module is stored in the media array, picked up by the robotic transport picker and scanned across the face of the media array when library initialization is required. The network control system in the Orion Series enables the addition and complies with ANSI SCSI-2 interface standards.

MiMS improves the inventory and initialization time for a 1,000 slot library to less than 4 minutes: a 60 times improvement over previous methods! The portable media-sized module has the ability to optically scan for presence of media as well as the barcode during the same sweep. As a result, an initial element status of media and inventory barcode labels are gathered simultaneously, further reducing inventory time by 50%. Each piece of media is identified by a barcode, allowing the host computer to track and manage the location of data. Predefined data, such as a movie title, server name, company name or data type can be associated with the barcode description. MiMS can read multiple types of barcode labels, allowing customers the flexibility to either use the supplied standard labels or their own approved labels.

MiMS also includes an autoload feature allowing users to load multiple cartridges through the mailbox slot in rapid succession. After all cartridges are loaded, the media management module reads and indexes all new imported media in a single operation. This method offers a much faster inventory process than the traditional method of loading and taking inventory of media individually. In the event of a power failure, or other user intervention, MiMS is programmed to automatically re-index the media. MiMS eliminates the need to read volume information from the surface of the media or platter in order to track data. The time-consuming process of loading individual media to read each volume label is no longer necessary, since the database correlates this information with the barcode identifier.

About DISC

DISC Incorporated manufactures an extensive family of automated library solutions for enterprise storage. DISC products range in capacity from 104 GBs to 5.4 TBs and are designed for high performance and maximum reliability.

Customers seeking more information may reach DISC at 1-800-944-3472 or (408)934-7000. www.disc-storage.com