News Release

Bitcentral Integrates Max-T Sledgehammer as Key Component for Leading Digital News Solution

Max-T’s robust Sledgehammer network-attached storage (NAS) device and Bitcentral’s revolutionary Precis combine for a powerful broadcast news solution

MONTREAL, Canada, January 28, 2008 — Maximum Throughput Inc. (www.max-t.com), developers of ultra high performance software-based solutions for networked storage infrastructure and media management, announced today that Bitcentral, a California-based company delivering the Precis end-to-end digital news production and broadcast play-to-air solution, has integrated Sledgehammer as the shared storage component of its news station deployments.

Sledgehammer is an extremely fast network-attached storage (NAS) device employed by post production houses and broadcasters to fulfill their high-speed online storage needs. Sledgehammer is available in many different configurations that suit the varying requirements for capacity, redundancy and high availability.

“We’re very pleased that Bitcentral has standardized Sledgehammer as the shared storage component of their revolutionary digital newsroom automation solutions,” said John Miller, Max-T’s Vice President of Worldwide Sales. “Our systems have been designed from the core to deliver the speed and reliability necessary to effectively deliver the stringent requirements for getting news on air, on time.”

Bitcentral’s Precis, an innovation in digital news production systems, is a non-proprietary, fully turnkey play-to-air digital news management system. The all file-based workflow solution is browser based and highly scalable, with virtually no limits on the number of users that can access the system. The system delivers an integrated on-line archive with virtually unlimited, inexpensive commodity storage for SD or HD video content, as well as provides the stations with a complete “eco-system,” featuring full integration with iNews, ENPS and editing software of choice, including Canopus® Edius, Sony® Vegas, Adobe® Premier Pro and Apple® Final Cut Pro.

In just two short years, the Precis system has been deployed in more than 10 percent of all news producing stations in the United States. Bitcentral recently uprooted and converted nine television news stations to HD and the Precis in nine weeks, sweeping from coast to coast.

“We evaluated a number of solutions before choosing Sledgehammer as the NAS storage component for our Precis solution,” commented Fred Fourcher, President and CEO of Bitcentral. “Our customers, which include some of the largest and most complex television news stations in the country, have very demanding needs. When we analyzed the big three requirements of reliability, redundancy and performance, the Sledgehammer was the clear winner. We are pleased to integrate Max-T’s proven broadcasting and content creation technology. The combined solution of Sledgehammer and Precis is poised to become the unbeatable standard for the highest levels of television news broadcasting.”

“The Sledgehammer has proven to be a solid, reliable NAS solution,” added Pete Sockett, Chief Engineer at WRAL-TV/DT in Raleigh, North Carolina, a television news station currently running HD on Bitcentral’s Precis system. “Past solutions we’ve used here have saturated with our team running as few as five edit suites. We’ve thrown all 12 edit suites at Max-T’s solution and it doesn’t skip a beat; it’s been smooth and problem free.”

About Bitcentral, Inc.

Bitcentral provides innovative solutions that transform the management, production and distribution of the news. Established in 1987, Bitcentral delivers cutting-edge turnkey systems that combine proven broadcast and network computing technologies to enable end-to-end digital workflows. With a growing suite of solutions, Bitcentral changes the way broadcast news does business. Bitcentral is headquartered in Irvine, CA. For further information, contact Charlie Grisham at Bitcentral, Inc. at: 18872 Bardeen Avenue, Irvine, CA 92612; Phone: (949) 417-4152; Fax: (949) 474-1885 or visit the company’s website at www.bitcentral.com


About Maximum Throughput

Maximum Throughput Inc. (www.max-t.com) is a media management tool developer and networked storage provider. Max-T's media aware storage solutions deliver extremely high performance over commodity networks, using smart software that runs on industry standard hardware. Software-based, media management tools are tightly integrated within the product line, delivering enriched functionality in a single, versatile solution. Having pioneered the development of shared storage solutions that can be simultaneously accessed over both data and video networks, Max-T offers products with unparalleled performance, capacity management, and capacity availability, as well as having the lowest total cost-of-ownership in their class.


For more information please contact:

John Miller
Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing,
Maximum Throughput

Phone: (978) 946-9408
Email: jmiller@max-t.com

Maximum Throughput Inc.
1751 Richardson
Suite 5.204
Montréal, Québec
CANADA H3K 1G6

Phone: (514) 925 3350
Fax: (514) 925 3378
Web: www.max-t.com

©2008 Maximum Throughput Inc., all rights reserved. Maximum Throughput and the Maximum Throughput logo are registered trademarks and Sledgehammer NAS, Sledgehammer SD!O, Sledgehammer HD!O, Sledgehammer SOS, Xstoner, MAXmedia, MAXmin, MAXcluster and Chisel are trademarks of Maximum Throughput Inc. in the U.S., Canada, and other countries. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.