FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Maria Takahashi
954-925-2688 x10
mtakahashi@EZD2D.com

Data Protection Solutions by Arco is Awarded (D2D) Patent by U.S. Patent & Trademark Office
Patent for Hidden Device Technology (HDT) protects users' data by hiding the hard disk when it's not in backup or recovery mode, without user intervention.

Hollywood, FL, April 5, 2005 – Data Protection Solutions by Arco, or DPS, the industry leader in the Disk to Disk (D2D) backup and restore category for the Edge of the Network, announced today that their Hidden Device Technology (HDT) patent has been accepted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Hidden Device Technology's unique capability renders the backup drive invisible and inaccessible to the system, user, and potential intruders that might otherwise maliciously access or corrupt the user's backed up data without user involvement.

Data security, storage, and restoration are greatly enhanced through the application of this technology, which works with Windows and Linux operating systems. This is essential to the effectiveness and the success of businesses today, as many businesses do not back up their data on personal computers, laptops, servers, imaging, and other edge of the network devices. In addition, if backups are attempted, failure during restoration is often the result, occurring more than 77% of the time. Hidden Device Technology assists in eliminating these problems and ensuring safe and reliable backup of all data, regardless of type.

What Is Hidden Device Technology?

This technology utilizes a standard ATA or SATA hard drive, which through a DPS controller is configured to appear as a removable media storage device. When the device is "hidden," the operating system sees it as having its media removed, and the device drivers cannot read or write to the device. Upon initializing a backup / restore operation, the DPS controller reconfigures the device as having its media in place, and reading / writing becomes possible. Hidden Device Technology makes the backup drive invisible to the system, except for very short periods of time when backup, restore, or first time image is performed. "Our technology is designed to be simple. We bring the sophistication and the benefits of enterprise data protection technologies to edge of the network devices, while removing all of the complexity and required management for the end-user. This enables all users at the edge of the network to properly protect and restore their data with complete confidence," stated Lawrence F. Steffann, President/ CEO of DPS.

How Hidden Device Technology Works

All ATA Hard Drives and ATAPI devices are characterized by reading the data from their "Identify Buffer." Once the operating system recognizes the device as having removal media, it periodically polls the device to see if media is ready before attempting to read or write. The DPS controller, by modifying the data sent from the storage device, will force the indication of "media removed," until a backup or restore operation is authorized.

Since the change of drive state from hidden to non-hidden can be performed at will, utilizing command from an application utility, it is possible to back up and restore data at scheduled times, with minimal delay assuring that at all other times the storage device is completely isolated from any system access. Besides guarding against accidental or intentional data destruction, this procedure also protects against unwanted access of sensitive data.

Headquartered in south Florida, Data Protection Solutions by Arco (http://www.ezd2d.com/) was founded in 1989. Its disk mirroring RAID controller and EzBackup™ disk-to-disk (D2D) product lines, powered by the company¹s patented DupliDisk technology, are designed to preserve the value of personal and corporate data. Data values are growing exponentially, and the high failure rate of tape-based backups and restores is a more serious threat to these values than ever. D2D backup provides cost-effective backup and storage up to terabyte capacity. It is now recognized as the "fail-safe" solution to data protection for enterprise, SMB and SOHO applications. The company serves both direct and OEM markets through distributors and resellers in the United States, Europe and the Far East.