Stoughton, MA -- JUNE 26, 1997. -- Measurement Techniques, Inc., the leader in network caching, "Put the Zip Into ZAK" today by announcing persistent caching support for the NT 4.0 Zero Administration Kit (ZAK) released this week by Microsoft. Persistent caching off-loads file servers making applications accessed by PCs through ZAK automation "Zip" across the network.

The ZAK kit for NT 4.0 from Microsoft provides IS managers with the tools necessary to automate the distribution of operating systems and application software to PC desktops. ZAK supports central installation of applications allowing client PCs to run application software loaded on centrally located file servers.

The advantage of this approach is there is only one copy of the application software to maintain. The disadvantage is that without caching, running application software from a central server can place a significant demand on the file server and the network, which slows PC response time.

MTI’s patent-pending Shared LAN Cache^™ (SLC^™) technology enables ZAK users to overcome this disadvantage and speed access to applications. SLC improves network performance and off-loads file servers by automatically storing recently accessed files in a combination of local and shared persistent caches.

The first time an application or document is read, it is automatically written into the SLC cache. The next time a user requests the same file, it comes from the SLC cache, instead of the file server. All rights and security are unchanged; the caching simply improves performance and reduces the load on the network and file server.

"Loading application software from central file servers with ZAK certainly reduces the total cost of ownership of PCs," said Clinton Battersby, president of Measurement Techniques, Inc. "However, without network caching, ZAK may not deliver on the promise of low-cost /high-performance application delivery and may even turn some networks into parking lots. Shared LAN Cache provides ZAK users with the persistent caching necessary to guarantee high performance."

Both the local cache of the SLC Client and the shared cache of the optional SLC Server incorporate persistent caching to eliminate redundant read requests over the network. While most caches in use today are volatile, losing their contents when power is shut down, data in SLC's persistent cache is retained and is available immediately when power is restored.

Carl Easton, director of information technology, for the Boston law firm of Palmer & Dodge, said of his first experience with SLC, "In just a few minutes we were caching. A Microsoft application that was normally taking 20 seconds to load, was now loading in about five seconds. The secretary was thrilled with the improved response time and begged me to leave the software loaded on her machine."

During a discussion of performance problems in a Novell User Group on the World Wide Web, Mike Avery, a contributing columnist for several industry publications, said, "Sometimes moving to a faster topology just moves the bottleneck to the server. "SLC doesn't, it uses local resources. It’s the best performance boost I’ve seen."

Shared LAN Cache products are NOS (Network Operating System) independent and compatible with all network operating systems including NetWare, NT, OS/2, LAN Manager, NFS, Vines and PathWorks.

SLC Client software is licensed per user and is priced at $5000 for a 100 user license with volume pricing available. The SLC Server is packaged as a Windows NT Service and begins at $1,750 for 25 users.

Measurement Techniques, Inc., headquartered in Stoughton, Massachusetts, is a privately funded corporation and the leading supplier of high performance network acceleration products. For more information about Measurement Techniques or Shared LAN Cache, visit http://www.lancache.com on the World Wide Web.

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Note to editors: Shared LAN Cache is a trademark of Measurement Techniques, Inc. ZAK and Windows NT are trademarks of Microsoft Corp. All other trademarks are of their respective companies.

SOURCE Measurement Techniques, Inc.

CONTACT: Clinton Battersby of Measurement Techniques, Inc., (781) 344-6230; info@lancache.com