StorageTek Ships Its Aegis Tape Libraries - Aegis L700 cartridge tape drive - Product Announcement

Computer Technology Review,  Oct, 1999  

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StorageTek's new Aegis tape libraries enable organizations and e-businesses to gain an edge by providing ways of managing information from multiple environments. As a one-stop-shop for SANs, the company is extending its product line with these libraries to streamline storage management and optimize storage space to boost e-business performance. The libraries are based on StorageTek's architecture and they are Fibre Channel libraries when combined with the company's forthcoming 9840 Fibre Channel tape drive, available in the fourth quarter of 1999. This pairing expands tape's role from direct attached to scalable Storage Area Network (SAN) environments. In addition to offering performance and automation, the libraries support mixed media, including StorageTek's 9840 tape drive, Quantum's Digital Linear Tape (DLT/SuperDLT), and Ultrium (LTO) formats.

The company's libraries are designed to work in a SAN environment, connected by Fibre Channel instead of SCSI links. This enables organizations to manage and share data over large distances.

Traditionally, customers have archived data onto libraries for disaster recovery and stored information on disk subsystems. StorageTek's years of innovations in automation and robotics, tape drive technologies, and Fibre Channel connectivity have driven the market to accept tape libraries as a primary data storage site to control storage costs. This transforms tape from a storage device into a tool for holding digital text, video clips, X-rays, check images, e-business data, and other information.

The system allows "hot swaps" so that customers can continue to operate the library even as drives, fans, or power supplies are replaced, supporting operations. The libraries' advanced robotics provides tape cartridge exchanges per hour without requiring routine maintenance. This increases library availability and boosts data access.

The company's offering, the L700 tape library, provides a capacity of up to 27.6TB and is targeted at the Unix and Windows NT marketplace for open systems implementations. It supports up to 12 9840 drives or 20 DLT/SuperDLT drives and is ready to support up to 20 Ultrium drives. StorageTek's tape libraries support mixed media, including any combination of these drive technologies to meet the needs of application environments. The L700 library is available immediately in the United States and Europe with other geographies to follow through the company and its channels. Pricing starts at US $77,100 for an entry-level library.

COPYRIGHT 1999 West World Productions, Inc.
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