Based in Taiwan, Tekram is a growing firm that is similar to other mainstream vendors like Abit and AOpen. Here's a little look at their own take on themselves:
Since its founding in 1990, Tekram has continued to be a fast-developing company. We started our operation with a capital of 200,000 US Dollars with an annual turnover of 300,000 US Dollars.
After a seven-year endeavor, our capital increased to over 14 million US Dollars in 1998. In addition, our turnover has increased to 30 million US Dollars in 1996 and to 80 million US Dollars in 1997. The projected 1998 turnover will be 120 million US Dollars.
Tekram has expanded rapidly during the past two years. Currently we have 280 employees at our headquarters office located in Taipei, Taiwan. In addition, we have also set up branch offices in Japan, Germany, and the USA. They provide services including Sales, Technical Support, RMA, Product Promotion, Goods Delivery, etc. It is our long-term goal to serve more customers through a global network; therefore, we will head toward expanding into new markets in the future.
Pretty much your standard high-tech overseas company, providing products that perform well for competitive pricing. In fact, the DC-390U2W Adapter from Tekram we're revieing here sells for about $125 less than the name brand equivalent adapter from SCSI giant Adaptec. The only questions left to be answered regard the specs for the card and its performance.
Here's the full spec sheet on the DC-390U2W, note the abundance of connection options:
SCSI Chip
· Symbios Logic SYM53C895 Ultra2 SCSI
SCSI devices
· 15 Max
· Supports SCSI-2, Wide, Ultra SCSI & Ultra Wide devices, as well as LVD Wide Ultra2 SCSI devices with both 50 and 68-pin connectors on the card
SCSI bus transfers
· Async: 5MB/sec & Sync: 80MB/sec (with LVD devices)
· SYMTolerANT technology with: Active negation of Data, Parity, Request, Acknowledge
· Input signal filtering improves data integrity
Data transfer
· 133MB/sec (at 33MHz)
· 80-byte DMA FIFO for 2/4/8/16 dwords burst (PCI)
PCI Integration
· Full 32-bit PCI DMA bus master
· Jumperless design
· Automatic SCSI bus termination
Reliability
· SYMTolerANT technology with: Active negation of Data, Parity, Request, Acknowledge
· Input signal filtering improves data integrity
Drivers & Utilities
· Flash utility, Installation, Low Level Format
· SCO 3.2v4.2/5.0, UnixWare 2.X, DOS, Win3.1, Win95, NT 3.5X/4.X, Netware 3.X/4.X
Connectors
(1) 50-Pin SCSI-2 Internal
(1) 68-Pin Ultra Wide SCSI Internal
(1) 68-Pin Ultra2 LVD SCSI Internal
(1) 68-Pin Ultra2 LVD SCSI External
From its Flash BIOS to its multiple connector ports, the DC-390U2W really includes every mainstream option SCSI peripheral owners require, and a few pluses that they don't. By incorporating the ability to handle an internal and external U2W SCSI HD or device simultaneously, while also propelling a SCSI-2 peripheral internally (CD or DVD-ROM) and backwards compatibility for yet another UW SCSI HD, the DC-390U2W is a power user's dream come true.
