HELIOS harnesses PLAYSTATION 3 power for enterprise server solution

London May 29th - Leading digital workflow specialist HELIOS has tapped into the power of the Playstation 3 platform. The games console is powered by the incredibly powerful Cell processor, which is needed to run games in high definition and amazing detail. HELIOS has customised a version of Linux to allow its server suite to run on the PS3 hardware.

The free installer will be available from the UK distributor's website from 1st of June ( www.jpy.com). It utilises Yellow Dog Linux v5.0 as its operating system, and it includes a test drive version of HELIOS UB, the enterprise client server solution. It is believed that this is the first instance of the games platform being used for a business server solution.

The reasons for porting HELIOS to the PS3 are more than simply showing off programming skills of the HELIOS team. It is of course more usual to have the enterprise software running on much more expensive platforms, such as IBM blade servers or Apple Xserves. But the PS3 is capable of lighter duties, and will be used by the HELIOS sales team to demonstrate the software to customers. With fully loaded servers running into multiple thousands of pounds, a compact demonstration server for under £500 makes perfect sense.

The HELIOS bundle included on the disc image will run for four hours at a time, allowing users to see what HELIOS can do. Software bundled would cost over £10,000, and getting it to run on a £425 gaming platform is quite a feat.

Dr John Yardley, MD of HELIOS distributor JPY Plc, said "It might seem like a crazy idea, but pound for pound the PS3 offers amazing power. I expect plenty of Linux enthusiasts will find good uses for the installation, which includes powerful tools like EtherShare and WebShare. Getting HELIOS running on the platform is akin to cramming a Spitfire engine into a Mini!"

The Linux installer is customised to make the best use of the limited memory available on the PS3. The disk image installs Yellow Dog Linux in under 10 minutes, with a configuration designed to optimise performance offering 40% more memory than the standard config.

The PS3 uses a 64-bit Cell processor that runs at 3.2 GHz, is PowerPC compatible with 256 MB of main memory, and has performance comparable to a G5 single CPU. The PS3 comes with the NVIDIA RSX Graphics Processing Unit, has a 60 GB 2.5" swappable serial ATA disk and offers WLAN and Gigabit Ethernet for network connectivity. Terra Soft's Yellow Dog Linux v5.0 is binary compatible with its release for the former Apple PowerPC product line and concurrent support for the Mercury Cell products and IBM Cell and pSeries servers.

Advantages of the HELIOS PS3 Linux installation:

· Excellent Linux on PS3 documentation from HELIOS

· Dedicated server operating system with optimized performance (40% more memory available)

· Java 1.5 runtime is pre-installed

· Easy maintenance shell from CD

· HELIOS services are pre-installed as a test drive

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Smart Ideas for Better Networking

HELIOS UB Unbreakable Server Solutions deliver mission critical server solutions to enterprise, government, university, and prepress sites. WebShare, EtherShare, and PCShare provide integrated cross-platform networking for Mac, Windows and Web clients, with advanced file and print server services, and easy remote server administration. HELIOS ImageServer, PDF HandShake and PrintPreview bring high efficiency and advanced capabilities to design, prepress and printing operations.

HELIOS products run on powerful and scalable servers including Apple Mac OS X, Hewlett-Packard HP-UX, IBM AIX, Linux, Sun Solaris, and Windows systems. HELIOS products provide reliable cross-platform support for Mac, Windows, Web and UNIX-based clients.

Notes to Editors

1. JPY plc is the sole UK distributor for HELIOS products.

2. JPY is also UK distributor for Archiware PresSTORE archive and backup solutions and for Canto Cumulus digital asset management software.

3. JPY plc, based in Surbiton, develops and distributes innovative cross-platform internetworking solutions, specialising in the media industry.

4. Press Enquiries to:

David Fanning - Tin Drum PR

david@tin-drum.com

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7096 0987

Business enquiries to:

Kevan Hamman

kevan_hamman@jpy.com