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Datalight

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Datalight
Company typePrivate
IndustryComputer software
FoundedBothell, Washington, U.S. (incorporated 1983 (1983))
FounderRoy Sherrill
Headquarters
Bothell, Washington
,
United States
Products
  • Reliance
  • FlashFX
  • XCFiles
  • ROM-DOS
Number of employees
29
Websitedatalight.com
www.tuxera.com

Datalight was a privately owned software firm focused on delivering high-performance, power-failsafe solutions designed to maintain data integrity within embedded systems.[1] Established in 1983 by Roy Sherrill, the company was headquartered in Bothell, Washington. In 2019, it became a subsidiary of Tuxera, operating under the name Tuxera US Inc.

Overview and history

Founded by former Boeing engineer Roy Sherrill in 1983,[2][3] Datalight initially developed two DOS-based tools: the Small-C compiler and the C-Bug debugger. From 1987 to 1993, the company offered Datalight C, a complete C compiler created by Walter Bright, which later evolved into Zortech C and subsequently Digital Mars C.[4] This technology also gave rise to Datalight Optimum-C—later known as Zortech C++—recognized as the first native C++ compiler.[5][6]

In 1988, Datalight introduced C_thru_ROM, a solution that allowed DOS-developed applications to operate as standalone embedded programs without requiring DOS.[7] The following year saw the launch of ROM-DOS version 1.0.

The company entered the raw flash memory market in 1995 with FlashFX, which originated from CardTrick—a product released in 1993 to support flash memory on PCMCIA cards. During the late 1990s, Datalight experienced significant growth, earning recognition as one of Washington state’s fastest-growing companies through the WA Fast 50 awards in both 1997 and 1998.

Datalight obtained four major patents concerning flash memory and file system technologies: starting in 1999 with a patent for storage allocation methods in flash memory; followed by a patent granted in 2001 addressing management of defective flash memory regions;[8] then a patent for its reliable transactional embedded file system Reliance in 2007;[9] and lastly a patent for fault-tolerant memory management awarded in 2013.[10]

In 2003, the company introduced Reliance, a transactional file system designed for embedded environments. Later developments included FlashFX Tera in 2009, tailored for larger NAND flash storage arrays, and Reliance Nitro, which improved performance for handling large files exceeding 100 MB as well as extensive file collections via a tree-structured architecture.

In June of 2019, Finnish firm Tuxera, specializing in storage software and networking solutions, acquired Datalight.[11]

Reliance

Originally launched in 2003, Reliance is a file system embedded for applications demanding high reliability. It features protection against file corruption caused by unexpected disruptions through atomic transaction points, eliminates the necessity for disk integrity verification during startup (thus shortening boot duration), offers dynamic tuning to enhance performance, and allows seamless data interchange with Microsoft Windows via the Reliance Windows Driver. Reliance accommodates volumes up to 2 TB and supports individual files up to 4 GB in size.

Reliance Nitro

Introduced in 2009, Reliance Nitro enhances the original Reliance by incorporating a tree-structured directory system that accelerates file lookup operations. It can manage volumes as large as 32 TB, with file size limits constrained only by available free space.

Reliance Windows Driver

Datalight provides Windows drivers compatible with both Reliance (RWD) and Reliance Nitro (RNWD), allowing media formatted under these systems to be accessed on Microsoft Windows platforms such as Windows Vista and XP. These drivers include utilities for formatting and maintaining file system integrity.

FlashFX

First made available in 1995, FlashFX is a flash memory management solution that abstracts the complexities of flash devices, enabling software to interact with flash storage as if it were a hard disk. Supporting both NAND and NOR flash types, FlashFX is compatible with a wide range of flash chips and can be integrated with any file system.

Versions include:

  • FlashFX Pro: Compatible with approximately 200 flash chip part numbers and supports arrays up to 2 GB. It comes pre-ported for operating systems including Windows CE, VxWorks, Nucleus PLUS, ThreadX, and Windows Mobile.
  • FlashFX Tera: Supports around 300 flash chip part numbers and arrays up to 2 TB. Pre-ported versions exist for Linux, Windows CE, and VxWorks. It also supports MLC NAND flash and offers improved error correction capabilities compared to FlashFX Pro.

FlashFX is employed in products such as Arcom’s PC/104 computer, Curtis-Wright’s Continuum Software Architecture, Teltronic’s HTT-500 handset, and MCSI’s PROMDISK disk emulator.

XCFiles

Unveiled in June 2010, XCFiles is an exFAT-compatible file system tailored for consumer electronics. It enables embedded devices to support SDXC, the extended capacity standard from the SD Card Association. Promoted as "platform-independent," XCFiles can be ported to any 32-bit platform that supports features like semaphores and unsigned 64-bit integers. In Japan, it is marketed under the name 'exFiles' by A.I. Corporation, having been released there in April 2009.

ROM-DOS

ROM-DOS—also referred to as Datalight DOS—was introduced in 1989 as an MS-DOS compatible operating system optimized for embedded environments. It maintains backward compatibility with specific MS-DOS releases such as DOS 5.01; ROM-DOS version 7.1 added support for FAT32 and long filenames. The OS includes a compact TCP/IP stack, while SOCKETS—a network socket API and connectivity suite—is offered as an optional extension. The software development kit facilitates programming using Borland C/C++ and Turbo Assembler.

Minimum system requirements:

  • Intel 80186 or equivalent CPU
  • 10 KB RAM
  • Between 54 KB and 72 KB of ROM or disk space depending on the release

Devices running ROM-DOS include Canon PowerShot Pro70 cameras, Advantech’s ADAM-4500 units, Percon Falcon 325 terminals, early PDAs such as the Tandy Zoomer, IBM Simon, HP OmniGo series, Nokia Communicator models, Casio Algebra FX graphing calculators, MCSI’s PROMDISK emulators, and Arcom’s PC/104 computers. Intel’s Advanced RAID Configuration Utility (ARCU) is built upon ROM-DOS; since 2004 all Intel server board System Resource CDs have contained this utility. Additionally, Symbol Technologies’ FMT 3000 was distributed with ROM-DOS installed.

Commands

The following commands are compatible with ROM-DOS:

External links

  1. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  2. ↑ "Ensuring that devices don't lose data." Tricia Duryee. The Seattle Times; July 16, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Leadership Team." Datalight. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
  4. ↑ Eckel, Bruce. Using C++, Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1989, p. 34.
  5. ↑ "History of PC based C-compilers." Bob Stout. 1998.
  6. ↑ Walter Bright interview. Bitwise Magazine; May 2006.
  7. ↑ "Desktop DOS goes undercover to run embedded systems." David Shear. EDN; August 4, 1994.
  8. ↑ United States Patent 6260156
  9. ↑ United States Patent 7284101
  10. ↑ United States Patent 8572036
  11. ↑ Nordic 9 Tuxera acquired Datalight from US.
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