For Immediate Release:
Media Contact:
Snorri Gudmundsson
Men & Mice
Tel. +354 552 2045
Email: snorri@menandmice.com
MEN & MICE SHIPS QUICKDNS PRO 2.0, BRINGS UNPRECEDENTED FUNCTIONALITY AND
EASE OF USE.
Upgrade Maximizes Web Site Reliability and Performance, Brings Robust
Domain Set-up Assistance, Provides Increased Intranet Flexibility.
Reykjavik, Iceland, July 22, 1997 — Men & Mice today announced the
immediate availability of QuickDNS Pro 2.0, a major upgrade of the
industrial-strength name server, bringing a revolutionary Intelligent Fault
Tolerance and Load Balancing solution that maximizes web site reliability
and performance by intelligently directing traffic to web servers, robust
Mac OS 8 type Domain Assistants that allow easy set-up and maintenance of
domains, and increased flexibility for corporate Intranets.
Initially released in February 1996, QuickDNS Pro continues to provide
cutting edge DNS (domain name service) to the Mac OS Internet platform,
being the first to fully replace the UNIX DNS servers with its full feature
set, fast performance and reliability. The most compelling new features in
QuickDNS Pro 2.0, Intelligent Fault Tolerance and Load Balancing, have been
addressed through a strategic partnership with StarNine Technologies of
Berkeley, California, the leading web server developer for the Mac OS. The
two companies aim to provide the best possible reliability and performance
on WebSTAR web sites (See a related StarNine and Men & Mice Press release).
For the first time it is possible to direct traffic to web servers based on
their availability, capacity and load. QuickDNS Pro 2.0 brings great
ease-of-use with Mac OS 8 type Domain Assistants, making it easier than
ever to set up and maintain normal, virtual, and reverse domains. Other
new features include a forwarding option for name server queries, automatic
reverse domain option, easy editing of parent server set-up, and exporting
of domain files.
The QuickDNS Pro 2.0 upgrade is available now to current QuickDNS Pro users
for the price of $89. QuickDNS Pro 2.0 is available today for $290 from
Men & Mice, $195 for educational organizations. A fully functional demo,
new copy, and upgrade of QuickDNS Pro 2.0 is available at:
UNPRECEDENTED WEB SITE RELIABILITY AND PERFORMANCE WITH INTELLIGENT FAULT
TOLERANCE AND LOAD BALANCING
Men & Mice and StarNine have worked together in developing an intelligent
Mac first, Mac only solution that minimizes misdirected visitor hits and
allows for optimum load distribution to web servers. “Essentially, the
combined Intelligent Fault Tolerance and Load Balancing technology works
towards maximizing the reliability and performance of web server
responses”, commented Sigurdur Ragnarsson, QuickDNS Product Manager. “By
addressing Intelligent Fault Tolerance, QuickDNS Pro 2.0 provides ultimate
reliability on WebSTAR web sites by detecting non-responding servers and
directing hits only to those responding. An added advantage is the
entwined Intelligent Load Balancing, yielding the greatest performance on
busy web sites by allocating optimum load to web servers, based on capacity
and load on the servers. The benefit over RAIC configurations is that load
is no longer distributed randomly between different web servers, since now
hits are allocated to web servers based on their availability.”
GREAT EASE OF USE IN SETTING UP AND MAINTAINING DOMAINS
With the introduction of the new QuickDNS Pro 2.0 Domain Assistants, it is
easier than ever for network administrators to set up and run their
domains. Users can set up normal, virtual, and reverse domains quickly and
easily by letting the QuickDNS Domain Set-up Assistant create the
appropriate resource records for each domain. “There is really nothing to
setting up your domains now,” said Ragnarsson. “The user simply provides
host names and IP addresses, the assistant does the rest. The secure, fast
set-up and maintenance with the new assistants makes a real difference for
the busy network administrator.”
INCREASED INTRANET FLEXIBILITY
The 2.0 upgrade makes QuickDNS Pro an attractive choice for corporate
Intranets. The upgrade sports a Forwarding feature, allowing for great
flexibility in query resolving. “For security reasons, a growing number of
Intranet users have added firewalls to their Intranet set-up. The new
forwarding feature allows QuickDNS Pro to interact with name servers
outside a firewall.”
OTHER NEW FEATURES
QuickDNS Pro 2.0 provides users with great flexibility in domain
administration. Users now have the option of letting the new QuickDNS
Domain Assistants automatically create reverse domains for each new domain.
QuickDNS Pro 2.0 also allows easy editing of root server information files
and users can now export domain information files straight from the
application.
The QuickDNS Pro 2.0 upgrade is available now to current QuickDNS Pro users
for the price of $89. QuickDNS Pro 2.0 is available today for $290 from
Men & Mice, $195 for educational organizations. A fully functional demo,
new copy, and upgrade of QuickDNS Pro 2.0 is available at:
ABOUT MEN & MICE
Men & Mice, headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland, are pioneers in the
development of DNS technology for the Mac OS. In addition to developing
and marketing the QuickDNS Pro DNS server, Men & Mice is committed to the
continued development of innovative Internet software that enhance the
functionality and performance of Internet and Intranet Web sites on the Mac
OS. Men & Mice can be reached via the Internet at
(http://www.menandmice.com/), by email at (info@menandmice.com), or by
phone at 354/552-2045.
