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Datalight was a
privately held A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...
software company specializing in power failsafe and high performance software for preserving data integrity in embedded systems. The company was founded in 1983 by Roy Sherrill, and is headquartered in
Bothell, Washington Bothell () is a city in King and Snohomish counties in the U.S. state of Washington. It is part of the Seattle metropolitan area, situated near the northeast end of Lake Washington. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 48,161 resident ...
. As of 2019 the company is a subsidiary of Tuxera under the name of Tuxera US Inc.


Overview and history

Datalight was founded in 1983 by Roy Sherrill, a former
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
engineer.Ensuring that devices don't lose data
" Tricia Duryee. ''
The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...
''; July 16, 2007.
Datalight's initial products were two DOS applications: the Datalight
Small-C Small-C is both a subset of the C programming language, suitable for resource-limited microcomputers and embedded systems, and an implementation of that subset. Originally valuable as an early compiler for microcomputer systems available during t ...
compiler and the Datalight C-Bug debugger. A full C compiler named Datalight C was available from Datalight between 1987 and 1993; Datalight C, developed by Walter Bright, evolved into Zortech C and is now Digital Mars C. Datalight C was also developed into an optimizing compiler called Datalight Optimum-C, which later became Zortech C++, the first native
C++ compiler This page is intended to list all current compilers, compiler generators, Interpreter (computing), interpreters, translators, tool foundations, Assembler (computing), assemblers, automatable command line interfaces (Shell (computing), shells), et ...
. In 1988, Datalight released C_thru_ROM, which provided embeddedable C functions and C start-up code, allowing programs developed on DOS to run as standalone applications without DOS dependence. In 1989, ROM-DOS 1.0 was released. CardTrick was announced in 1993 to support the
flash memory Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
being built into PCMCIA cards. Card Trick later evolved into the embedded flash memory manager FlashFX in 1995, moving Datalight into the raw flash memory market. The company grew rapidly in the late 1990s, receiving the WA Fast 50 award for the fastest growing companies in Washington state in 1997 and 1998. The first of four patents to eventually be assigned to Datalight, "Method and apparatus for allocating storage in a flash memory", was awarded in 1999, followed up with an additional FlashFX-related patent, "Method and system for managing bad areas in flash memory", in 2001. In 2003, Reliance, a reliable transactional embedded file system, was released; a related patent, "Reliable file system and method of providing the same", was awarded in 2007. In 2009, Datalight released FlashFX Tera to support the growing size and complexity of
NAND flash Flash memory is an Integrated circuit, electronic Non-volatile memory, non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for t ...
arrays. That same year, Reliance Nitro was released, building upon Reliance and adding a tree-based architecture to improve performance for large files (>100 MB) and large numbers of files. In 2013, another file system related patent, "Method and Apparatus for Fault-tolerant Memory Management" was issued. In June 2019, the Finnish storage software and networking technology company Tuxera signed an agreement to acquire Datalight.


Products


Reliance family


Reliance

First released in 2003, Reliance is an embedded file systemMiller, Drew. ''Black Hat Physical Device Security: Exploiting Hardware and Software''
p. 49
Syngress, 2004. .
designed for applications with high reliability requirements.
Reliance Datasheet
', p. 1.
Key features: * Provides immunity to
file corruption File or filing may refer to: Mechanical tools and processes * File (tool), a tool used to ''remove'' fine amounts of material from a workpiece ** Filing (metalworking), a material removal process in manufacturing ** Nail file, a tool used to g ...
, including after unexpected system interruption (e.g., power loss), via atomic transaction points. * Does not need to check disk integrity at start-up, meaning a shorter boot time. * Dynamic file system configuration for performance optimization. * Full data-exchangeability with
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
, via the Reliance Windows Driver. Reliance has a maximum volume size of 2 TB and a maximum file size of 4 GB.


Reliance Nitro

Released in 2009, Reliance Nitro is a file system developed from Reliance; it improved on the performance of original Reliance, primarily by adding a
tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
-based directory architecture facilitating faster look-ups. The maximum volume size on Reliance Nitro is 32 TB; maximum file size is constrained only by free space.


Reliance Windows Driver

Datalight provides Windows drivers for both Reliance (Reliance Windows Driver; RWD) and Reliance Nitro (Reliance Nitro Windows Driver; RNWD); they provide exchangeability between Reliance-formatted media and Microsoft Windows. Both support
Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
and
Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...
; an older version of RWD supports
Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It was the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), releas ...
. The drivers are bundled with tools to format media and a utility to check file system integrity.


FlashFX

Introduced in 1995, FlashFX is a flash media manager which allows applications to access flash memory as if it were a hard drive, abstracting the complexity of flash media. FlashFX operates either NAND or NOR flash and supports numerous flash devices. It can be used with any file system. Versions: * FlashFX Pro: Supports around 200 flash chip part numbers and flash arrays up to 2 GB.Flash Memory Drivers
." Datalight. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
Has pre-ported versions for Windows CE,
VxWorks VxWorks is a real-time operating system (or RTOS) developed as proprietary software by Wind River Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aptiv. First released in 1987, VxWorks is designed for use in embedded systems requiring real-time, determin ...
,
Nucleus PLUS Nucleus RTOS is a real-time operating system (RTOS) produced by the Embedded Software Division of Mentor Graphics, a Siemens Business, supporting 32- and 64-bit embedded system platforms. The operating system (OS) is designed for real-time embedd ...
, and ThreadX. FlashFX Pro is available for
Windows Mobile Windows Mobile is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones and personal digital assistants. Its origin dated back to Windows CE in 1996, though Windows Mobile itself first appeared in 2000 as Pock ...
(FlashFX Tera is not). * FlashFX Tera: Supports around 300 flash chip part numbers and flash arrays up to 2 TB. Has pre-ported versions for
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
, Windows CE, and VxWorks. FlashFX Tera supports MLC NAND flash, while FlashFX Pro does not; another improvement is Tera's error correction, which is more robust than Pro's. Products using FlashFX include Arcom's
PC/104 PC/104 (or PC104) is a family of embedded computer standardization, standards which define both Computer form factor, form factors and Bus (computing), computer buses by the PC/104 Consortium. Its name derives from the 104 pins on the interboard ...
computer,PC/104 computer survives harsh environments
" Warren Webb. ''EDN''; February 3, 2000.
Curtis-Wright's Continuum Software Architecture, Teltronic's HTT-500 handset, and MCSI's PROMDISK disk emulator.PROMDISK
MCSI.


XCFiles

XCFiles, released in June 2010, is an
exFAT exFAT (Extensible File Allocation Table) is a file system introduced by Microsoft in 2006 and optimized for flash memory such as USB flash drives and SD cards. exFAT was proprietary until 28 August 2019, when Microsoft published its specificati ...
-compatible file system aimed at consumer devices.
XCFiles
', p. 1.
It allows embedded systems to support SDXC, the
SD Card Association The SD Association (SDA) is an American nonprofit organization that sets standards for the SD memory card format. SanDisk, Panasonic (Matsushita) and Toshiba formed the SD Association in January 2000. In 2010, the SDA had approximately 1,000 mem ...
standard for extended capacity storage cards. Marketed as "independent of the target platform", XCFiles is intended to be portable to any 32-bit platform which meets certain requirements (such as supporting semaphores and
unsigned Unsigned can refer to: * An unsigned artist is a musical artist or group not attached or signed to a record label ** Unsigned Music Awards, ceremony noting achievements of unsigned artists ** Unsigned band web, online community * Similarly, the c ...
64-bit integers). XCFiles is marketed in Japan as 'exFiles' by A.I. Corporation; it was released there in April 2009.


ROM-DOS

ROM-DOS (sometimes called Datalight DOSDatalight DOS Selected for Canon's New Line of Digital Still Cameras
" '' Business Wire''; February 23, 1999.
) was introduced in 1989 as an
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...
compatible operating system designed for embedded systems. It includes backward compatibility build options allowing compatibility with specific versions of MS-DOS (e.g., DOS 5.01). ROM-DOS 7.1 added support for
FAT32 File Allocation Table (FAT) is a file system developed for personal computers. Originally developed in 1977 for use on floppy disks, it was adapted for use on hard disks and other devices. It is often supported for compatibility reasons by c ...
and long file names. ROM-DOS includes a compact
TCP/IP stack The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the set of communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suit ...
;Jones, M. Tim. ''TCP/IP Application Layer Protocols for Embedded Systems''
Appendix C: TCP/IP Protocol Stacks
. Charles River Media, 2002. .
and SOCKETS, a
network socket A network socket is a software structure within a network node of a computer network that serves as an endpoint for sending and receiving data across the network. The structure and properties of a socket are defined by an application programming ...
API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software Interface (computing), interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standa ...
and connectivity package, is available as an optional add-on for ROM-DOS. The SDK comes with Borland C/C++ and
Turbo Assembler Turbo Assembler (sometimes shortened to the name of the executable, TASM) is an assembler for software development published by Borland in 1989. It runs on and produces code for 16- or 32-bit x86 MS-DOS and compatible on Microsoft Windows. It ...
. System requirements: *
Intel 80186 The Intel 80186, also known as the iAPX 186, or just 186, is a microprocessor and microcontroller introduced in 1982. It was based on the Intel 8086 and, like it, had a 16-bit external data bus multiplexed with a 20-bit address bus. The 801 ...
or compatible * 10 KB of RAM * 54–72 KB of ROM or disk space (depending on version) Some devices which use or used ROM-DOS are the Canon PowerShot Pro70, Advantech's ADAM-4500, the Percon Falcon 325, several early PDAs (
Tandy Zoomer Palm, Inc. was an American company that specialized in manufacturing personal digital assistants (PDAs) and various other electronics. They were the designer of the PalmPilot, the first PDA successfully marketed worldwide, as well as the Treo 60 ...
,
IBM Simon The IBM Simon Personal Communicator (simply known as IBM Simon) is a handheld, touchscreen PDA designed by International Business Machines (IBM), and manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric. Although the term "smartphone" was not coined until 199 ...
,
HP OmniGo 100 The HP 200LX Palmtop PC (F1060A, F1061A, F1216A), also known as project ''Felix'', is a personal digital assistant introduced by Hewlett-Packard in August 1994. It was often called a Palmtop PC, and it was notable that it was, with some mi ...
/ 120, Nokia 9000/ 9000i/ 9110/ 9110i),
Casio Algebra FX Series The Casio Algebra FX series was a line of graphing calculators manufactured by Casio Computer Co., Ltd from 1999 to 2003. They were the successor models to the CFX-9970G, the first Casio calculator with computer algebra system, or CAS, a program f ...
graphing calculators, MCSI's PROMDISK, and Arcom's PC/104 computer. Intel's Advanced RAID Configuration Utility (ARCU) is based on ROM-DOS, and, as of 2004, all Intel server board System Resource CDs included ROM-DOS.
Symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
's FMT 3000 came with a copy of ROM-DOS.


Commands

The following list of
commands Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards * ...
is supported by ROM-DOS. * ATTRIB *
BACKUP In information technology, a backup, or data backup is a copy of computer data taken and stored elsewhere so that it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form, referring to the process of doing so, is "back up", w ...
*
BREAK Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...
* CALL * CD *
CHDIR The command, also known as (change directory), is a command-line shell command used to change the current working directory in various operating systems. It can be used in shell scripts and batch files. Implementations The command has been ...
*
CHKDSK In computing, CHKDSK (short for "check disk") is a system tool and command in DOS, Digital Research FlexOS, IBM/Toshiba 4690 OS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and related operating systems. It verifies the file system integrity of a volume and at ...
* CHOICE * CLS * COMM *
COMMAND Command may refer to: Computing * Command (computing), a statement in a computer language * COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS * Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards * ...
*
COPY Copy may refer to: *Copying or the product of copying (including the plural "copies"); the duplication of information or an artifact **Cut, copy and paste, a method of reproducing text or other data in computing **File copying **Photocopying, a pr ...
* CTTY * DATE * DEL *
DELTREE In computing, DELTREE (short for ''delete tree'') is a command line command in some Microsoft operating systems, SpartaDOS X and FreeDOS that recursively deletes an entire subdirectory of files. Overview When IBM and Microsoft introduced PC DOS 1 ...
* DIR *
DISK2IMG Disk or disc may refer to: * Disk (mathematics), a geometric shape * Disk storage Music * Disc (band), an American experimental music band * ''Disk'' (album), a 1995 EP by Moby Other uses * Disk (functional analysis), a subset of a vector space ...
* DISKCOMP * DISKCOPY * DUMP * ECHO *
EMM386 EMM386 is the expanded memory manager of Microsoft's MS-DOS, IBM's PC DOS, Digital Research's DR-DOS, and Datalight's ROM-DOS which is used to create expanded memory using extended memory on Intel 80386 CPUs. There also is an EMM386.EXE available ...
*
ERASE Erase may refer to: *Data erasure, a method of software-based overwriting that completely destroys all electronic data *Data remanence, the residual representation of data that has been, in some way, nominally erased or removed * ''Erase'' (album ...
*
EXE2BIN The command-line tool exe2bin is a post-compilation utility program available on MS-DOS and other operating systems. Overview Early compilers and linkers for the MS-DOS platform could not produce a COM file executable directly. Instead, the co ...
* EXIT *
FDISK In computing, the fdisk command-line utility provides disk-partitioning functions, preparatory to defining file systems. fdisk features in the DOS, DR FlexOS, IBM OS/2, and Microsoft Windows operating systems, and in certain ports of FreeBS ...
* FIND *
FOR For or FOR may refer to: English language *For, a preposition *For, a complementizer *For, a grammatical conjunction Science and technology * Fornax, a constellation * for loop, a programming language statement * Frame of reference, in physic ...
*
FORMAT Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...
*
GOTO GoTo (goto, GOTO, GO TO or other case combinations, depending on the programming language) is a statement found in many computer programming languages. It performs a one-way transfer of control to another line of code; in contrast a function ca ...
*
HELP Help is a word meaning to give aid or signal distress. Help may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Help'' (2010 film), a Bollywood horror film * ''Help'' (2021 theatrical film), a British psychological thriller film * '' ...
* IF *
KEYB KEYB (107.9 FM, "108 Key FM") is a radio station licensed to Altus, Oklahoma, United States. The station is currently owned by Monte Spearman and Gentry Todd Spearman, through licensee High Plains Radio Network, LLC. KEYB has television adverti ...
* LABEL * LFNFOR *
LOADHIGH In computing, (abbreviated ) is an internal DOS command in COMMAND.COM that is used to load a program into the upper memory area (UMA) instead of conventional memory. The command was introduced with MS-DOS 5.0 / PC DOS 5.0 in 1991, copyin ...
* MD *
MEM Mem (also spelled Meem, Meme, or Mim) is the thirteenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Hebrew mēm , Aramaic Mem , Syriac mīm ܡ, Arabic mīm and Phoenician mēm . Its sound value is . The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek mu ...
* MINICMD.COM *
MKDIR The mkdir (make directory) command in the Unix, DOS, DR FlexOS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows, and ReactOS operating systems is used to make a new directory. It is also available in the EFI shell and in the PHP scripting language. In DOS, OS/2, ...
*
MODE Mode ( la, modus meaning "manner, tune, measure, due measure, rhythm, melody") may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' MO''D''E (magazine)'', a defunct U.S. women's fashion magazine * ''Mode'' magazine, a fictional fashion magazine which is ...
*
MORE More or Mores may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka ...
* MOVE * MSCDEX * NED *
PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...
* PAUSE * POWER * PRINT *
PROMPT Prompt may refer to: Computing * Command prompt, characters indicating the computer is ready to accept input * Command Prompt, also known as cmd.exe or cmd, the command-line interpreter in some operating systems * Prompt (natural language), instr ...
* PROTO * RD *
REM Rem or REM may refer to: Music * R.E.M., an American rock band * ''R.E.M.'' (EP), by Green * "R.E.M." (song), by Ariana Grande Organizations * La République En Marche!, a French centrist political party * Reichserziehungsministerium, in Nazi G ...
* REMDISK * REMQUIT * REMSERV *
REN Ren or REN may refer to: Abbreviations * Orenburg Tsentralny Airport, IATA code REN, civil airport in Russia * Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), Portuguese company * Renanthera, abbreviated as Ren, orchid genus * Ringer equivalence number ( ...
* RESTORE *
RMDIR In computing, rmdir (or rd) is a command (computing), command which will remove an empty directory (file systems), directory on various operating systems. Implementations The command is available in Unix (e.g. macOS, Solaris (operating system), ...
* RSZ * SERLINK * SERSERV *
SET Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...
* SHARE * SHIFT *
SMARTDRV SmartDrive (or SMARTDRV) is a disk caching program shipped with MS-DOS versions 4.01 through 6.22 and Windows 3.0 through Windows 3.11. It improves data transfer rates by storing frequently accessed data in random-access memory (RAM). Early v ...
*
SORT Sort may refer to: * Sorting, any process of arranging items in sequence or in sets ** Sorting algorithm, any algorithm for arranging elements in lists ** Sort (Unix), a Unix utility which sorts the lines of a file ** Sort (C++), a function in the ...
* SUBST * SYS *
TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
* TRANSFER *
TREE In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
*
TRUENAME A true name is a name of a thing or being that expresses, or is somehow identical to, its true nature. The notion that language, or some specific sacred language, refers to things by their true names has been central to philosophical study as we ...
*
TYPE Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...
* UMBLINK *
VER Ver or VER may refer to: * Voluntary Export Restraints, in international trade * VER, the IATA airport code for General Heriberto Jara International Airport * Volk's Electric Railway, Brighton, England * VerPublishing, of the German group VDM Publ ...
*
VERIFY CONFIG.SYS is the primary configuration file for the DOS and OS/2 operating systems. It is a special ASCII text file that contains user-accessible setup or configuration directives evaluated by the operating system's DOS BIOS (typically residing ...
*
VOL Vol or Vols may refer to: * Vol (command), a computer operating system command * Vol (heraldry), a heraldic charge * Volatility (finance) * Volume (disambiguation) * Volunteer (Irish republican) * Nashville Vols, an American minor league baseball t ...
* XCOPY


References


External links

* {{Disk operating systems 2019 mergers and acquisitions Computer storage companies Defunct software companies of the United States Software companies based in Washington (state) Software companies established in 1983 Software companies disestablished in 2019 1983 establishments in Washington (state) 2019 disestablishments in Washington (state) Software companies of the United States