For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Naomi Pearce
Pearce Communications
510/528-0824
mailto:naomi@well.com
SOPHISTICATED CIRCUITS ANNOUNCES REBOUND! 2.0
— ADB Auto-Restart Device Software Now With Advanced Logging, Event
Messaging and Updated Automatic Crash Recovery —
BOTHELL, Wash., January 5, 1999 — at Macworld Expo Booth #3446 —
Sophisticated Circuits, Inc. today announced the Rebound! 2.0
software upgrade for its popular ADB auto-restart device, now with
advanced logging, event messaging and significant advancements in
automatic crash detection, recovery and prevention. Now for the first
time, Rebound! 2.0 can relaunch individual applications, keep
detailed logs and automatically notify administrators when priority
events occur. In a related announcement, Sophisticated Circuits today
for the first time began demonstrating Kick-off!, an auto-restart
device designed for USB-equipped Macs (see release dated 01/05/99).
Kick-off! will have software features similar to Rebound! 2.0. The
Rebound! 2.0 software upgrades will be available for download in
February, 1999 for $19.95. Any Rebound! purchased in 1999 can be
upgraded for free. Rebound! is available for $99 directly from
Sophisticated Circuits at (http://www.sophisticated.com/).
“Rebound! was designed as a simple restart device, but many customers
requested that we include some of the more advanced features of our
PowerKey Pro products in Rebound!,” said Jonathan Feinstein of
Sophisticated Circuits. “We incorporated those wishes and much more
into a powerful new package which retains the heralded ease-of-use
and affordability of its predecessor.”
Advanced Logging Gives Admins Details
Rebound! 2.0’s new, advanced logging feature replaces the simple
logging dialog box with a sophisticated logging facility which logs
both system and application activities. Now system administrators can
view a detailed log including the date, time, priority, source and
nature of activity, choosing from activities such as: when an
application was launched; when it was quit or automatically restarted
due to a problem; and when the system crashed and was rebooted.
Administrators can make their logs as simple or complex as they
desire by custom specifying activities included in the log.
Applications can also write to the log, allowing administrators to
centralize both system and application monitoring. In addition,
Rebound! 2.0 includes a W*API plug-in module to allow remote viewing
of the log from any web browser. Now, with Rebound!’s new Remote Log
Viewer Plug-in, administrators get up-to-the-second data, without the
extra overhead and latency of periodically regenerating HTML files.
Remote Notification Keeps Admins Informed
Administrators responsible for unattended servers at remote locations
can now receive automatic notification of a problem. Rebound! 2.0
logs messages locally, plus now immediately forwards high-priority
alerts to an e-mail address. Remote notification features can be
easily incorporated with PageNow! from Mark/Space Softworks to
instantly forward email alerts to a pager.
Administrators can now receive messages in one central location — a
huge advantage for administrators responsible for machines at
multiple sites. Log messages can now also invoke all the newest
commands in AppleScript, allowing AppleScript users complete,
automated control over error handling.
Expanded Application Monitoring
Rebound!’s comprehensive crash detection for applications uses a
unique, two-level approach– simple monitoring and Application
Watchdog Timer monitoring. Simple monitoring, which requires no
developer support or system overhead, intercepts application crashes
that typically result in the infamous “Application Unexpectedly Quit”
error message. Traditionally, Rebound! incorporated MacsBug to
achieve simple monitoring. Now with Rebound! 2.0, simple monitoring
has been integrated into the Rebound! software without requiring the
use of MacsBug.
Application Watchdog Timer monitoring goes far beyond simple
monitoring, using patent-pending “Application Watchdog Timers” to
detect several additional error conditions which can cause an
application to fail without actually quitting. Developers add a few
simple “hooks” to their programs to let Rebound! monitor their
internal workings. A free, open source PowerKey Tickler WebServer
Plug-in is available that adds this support to any W*API-compatible
application.
Most major Mac server-related software vendors currently support
Sophisticated Circuits’ Application Watchdog Timer technology in
their products, including: Apple Computer, Inc.; StarNine
Technologies, Inc.; Maxum Development Corp.; Imagina, Inc.; Purity
Software, Inc.; Tenon Intersystems; Stalker Software, Inc.; Spider
Island Software; MDG Computer Services, Inc.; Social Engineering
Inc.; and Fog City Software. “Developers immediately saw the
significant advantages of supporting our Application Watchdog Timer
technology.” Feinstein explained. “Each developer knows the inner
workings of their software better than anyone on the outside ever
could. By providing us with status information from within their
running applications, we are able to detect and respond to many
additional kinds of problems.”
Enhanced Crash Recovery
Sophisticated Circuits’ patent-pending Application Watchdog Timer
technology enables Rebound! to respond to problems it detects using a
three-level fall-back mechanism. Now, Rebound! 2.0 has the totally
new ability to automatically relaunch a single failed application,
which otherwise leaves the operating system and other applications
running.
If the application fails to relaunch, or fails a user-set number of
relaunches within a specified period (such as “3 times within the
past 8 hours”), Rebound! will then progress to initiate a “clean”
Finder restart. If a Finder restart fails, or if the system crashes,
Rebound! will fall back to resetting the computer by sending the
command-control-power-on keyboard reset sequence over the ADB port.
Rebound’s new bookmark capabilities now gives administrators the
option of ensuring the system recovers exactly the way it was. Any
time Rebound! 2.0 restarts the system, it can now automatically
relaunch all applications that were bookmarked as running on the
computer at the time it crashed.
Crash Avoidance
Rebound! 2.0 now allows administrators to schedule periodic restarts
of the computer, to prevent crucial problems before they occur.
Automatic restarting of the system and bookmarked applications
enables regular “house cleaning” and helps eliminate common problems
and performance degradation caused by gradual memory leaks or
fragmentation from long, uninterrupted software usage. Whether
resulting from a scheduled restart or failure recovery, all
applications running at the time the computer is restarted are
bookmarked and automatically restored.
About Sophisticated Circuits
Founded in 1984, Sophisticated Circuits, Inc. is a privately held
corporation located in Woodinville, WA. Sophisticated Circuits, Inc.
develops elegant, highly integrated hardware/software tools which
make the lives of computer professionals easier by enhancing the
reliability, remote access and automation capabilities of servers and
personal computers. Further information on Sophisticated Circuits may
be obtained by accessing Sophisticated Circuits’ Web site at
(http://www.sophisticated.com/), calling 800-769-3773, or sending
e-mail to info@sophisticated.com. International inquiries can also
reach Sophisticated Circuits by calling +425/485-7979, or sending a
fax to +425/485-7172.