Convenient USB adapter-based solution for remotely deploying operating systems and applications to laptops, embedded devices and older desktop PCs.

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, April 8, 2003 – Argon Technology announces the global release of a PXE on Disk™ product for use with the Microsoft ® MN-110 USB adapter and other Ethernet network adapters that connect through a USB port. PXE on Disk makes the many benefits of network booting available to users of networked devices that are not natively supported by Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) boot agents. This includes most laptop computers and older desktops.

Network booting makes it possible for administrators to deploy new operating systems and applications over the network. They can also perform a number of administrative tasks at start up. Devices that don’t support PXE can still boot from the network if they have a PXE-compliant network adapter. Most USB adapters, unfortunately, aren’t PXE-compliant.

“USB adapters are ideal in situations where the user can’t or chooses not to use an internal PCI network card,” says Conrad Lawes, Argon’s Technical Services Manager. “That makes them especially attractive for use with laptops. However, since they aren’t PXE-compliant, they don’t enable network booting.”
The solution, according to Lawes, is PXE on Disk. “By providing every non-PXE compliant computer (laptop or desktop) with PXE on Disk, administrators can easily add the benefits of centrally deployed management tools to their entire installed base.”

Even if an IT technician does have to visit the client device, a compact USB adapter plus a PXE on Disk floppy simplifies the job. As long as it has a USB port, the remote device can be booted from the network, so the technician can be sure the operated system and applications are properly installed before beginning to troubleshoot.

Using products such as Microsoft’s Remote Installation Services (RIS) or Argon’s Client Management Services® (CMS), system administrators can deploy any Windows OS or application over the network, in minutes. Currently, Microsoft RIS does not support USB Ethernet adapters. However, Argon’s RIS Menu Editor allows you to circumvent this problem. The floppy disk-based version makes it possible for virtually any client to boot from the network. In addition to Microsoft’s MN-110, PXE on Disk supports the following USB adapters:

3COM 3C460B
D-Link DSB-650TX
Linksys USB100TX
Netgear FA101
Belkin 8511
Accton USB320-EC
Accton SpeedStream Ethernet SS1001
Siemens SpeedStream USB SS1001
SMC 2206USB
SOHOware NUB100
Argon also offers PXE on Disk to support adapters and Network Interface Cards (NICs) for ISA, PCI, MiniPCI and PC Cards.
Full details are available at http://www.ArgonTechnology.com/mbadisk/.

OEM Version
Argon also offers a licensed OEM version that allows vendors of desktop management software to integrate PXE on Disk into their applications. Their customers can then create an unlimited number of PXE boot disks, as well as IBM RPL, NetWare (802.2, 802.3, Ethernet II) and TCP/IP (DHCP or BOOTP) network boot protocols.

About Argon Technology Corporation

Argon Technology is a world leader in network booting solutions. The company’s Boot ROM technology supports all leading manufactures of networking ASIC’s and add in cards, as well as many popular desktop management applications. For more details, visit http://www.ArgonTechnology.com.
To Purchase Argon PXE on Disk for Microsoft USB Adapters visit: http://www.BootAgent.com

To learn more about Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) visit http://www.PXE.ca