Product: Z-Series 4200UManufacturer: Raritan Computer, Inc.Address: 400 Cottontail Lane          Somerset, NJ 08873Phone: 800-724-8090URL: www.raritan.com

Raritan Computer, Inc. is now shipping its new Z-Series 4200U, a single-user, Paragon Ready server management system that eliminates the need for a switching box. This innovative system enables selection and control of up to 42 computers without consuming any precious rack space ("zero-U").

Raritan's Z-Series is clearly designed with densely packed 1U or 2U rack mount server environments in mind. Raritan has eliminated the need for a traditional rack mounted KVM switch, and has also eliminated hard-to-manage coaxial cable. Z-Series 4200U replaces traditional server-to-switch connections with a chain-like server-to-server string, by means of small Z-Series Computer Interface Modules (Z-CIMs), with a single Category 5 UTP cable. One Z-CIM is connected to each server to transmit the keyboard, video, and mouse signals to the User Station (USTS). The PS/2 or Sun keyboard, monitor, and mouse plug into the User Station, which enables the user to select and control up to 42 servers via simple on-screen user interface menus.

"The Z-Series solution is unique in its simplicity and its flexibility," says Bob Pollack, vice president of sales and marketing at Raritan Computer, Inc. "Its small components and chain-like connections make it a perfect solution for centralized access to high-density rack mounted servers. Furthermore, growth is accommodated economically by simply adding a server anywhere in the chain." Pollack continues, "And while Z-Series was designed for high-density applications, it will also be a welcome solution in server rooms or test labs, where computers are scattered as far as 1,000 feet apart."

In addition to these applications, deploying Z-Series in a Paragon-centric data center, through Raritan's award-winning Category 5-based Paragon, also creates numerous possibilities for cost-effective, space-saving multi-user management of a large number of servers in a high-density environment. For example, while the majority of the 32 ports on Paragon might be used for non-blocked access to mission-critical servers, several ports may be connected to racks of non-mission critical, infrequently accessed servers chained together using Z-Series 4200U Z-CIMs. In this configuration, up to eight users can have unblocked access to the mission-critical servers, and clustered access to a greater number (up to 42 per Paragon port) of less critical or redundant systems.

A Z-Series 4200U starter kit, consisting of one User Station (USTS) and three Z-CIMs (UKVMSP) to enable management of three PS/2 servers, is now shipping and carries a list price of $845.00. Additional Z-CIMs (UKVMSP) list for $195 each. Z-CIMS for Sun and USB devices will be available Q1 2002.