Spectra Logic is First to Market With Tape Libraries Featuring Sony's New AIT-2 Tape Drives

Business Wire, Jan 22, 1999

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 1999--Spectra Logic Corp. Friday announced it is shipping the industry's first AIT-2 equipped tape libraries, the Spectra 10000 Series.

Equipped with Sony's new AIT-2 tape drive technology, the Spectra 10000 provides users with a capacity of 2.0 Terabytes and a transfer rate of 6.0 to 24.0 Megabytes per second.

"The new AIT-2 tape drive specifications propel AIT into a leadership position in the mid-range tape marketplace, ahead of Quantum's DLT products," said Nathan Thompson, Spectra Logic chairman and chief executive officer. "As the first manufacturer to deliver AIT-2 libraries, Spectra Logic continues to lead the AIT marketplace, a position it has held since shipping the industry's first AIT-1 library in 1996."

The new AIT-2 tape drives boast the mid-range tape industry's fastest native transfer rate, 6.0 Megabytes per second (15.6 MB/sec compressed), and largest per-cartridge capacity, 50 Gigabytes (130 GB compressed), for less than $5000. AIT now holds the leading specifications in capacity per tape, transfer rate, media passes, head life and reliability.

The AIT-2 delivery announcement follows last month's delivery of a free firmware enhancement that increased the original AIT-1 drive's native per tape capacity to 35 GB (92 GB compressed), increasing library capacities by 40 percent.

"We are pleased with the commitment Sony has shown to the AIT market. With the introduction of the new AIT-2 tape drives, Sony has not only delivered the highest-performance midrange tape drive but has also reduced the price of its award winning AIT-1 product line," Thompson continued. "Customer data continues to grow at a rate at which tape technologies can barely keep pace. Using AIT-2, now the fastest mid-range tape technology, in conjunction with our Spectra 10000 Series tape libraries with their high data center functionality offers our customers a truly winning combination."

Hybinette Chooses AIT Technology

Denver-based Hybinette Inc. is the first Spectra Logic customer to receive the new AIT-2 libraries. Hybinette is a rapidly growing systems integrator of high-capacity, high-speed file servers for the pre-press and graphics arts industries.

"Our customers store immense amounts of critical data, which changes rapidly throughout the day," said Bob Simpson, vice president of sales for Hybinette. "Protecting this data requires a high-performance tape technology with best-of-class reliability and an affordable price tag, all of which AIT provides. AIT is Hybinette's tape technology of choice."

Features

The Spectra 10000 tape library features a maximum of 40 storage slots and can hold up to four tape drives. When equipped with Sony's new AIT-2 drives, the Spectra 10000's capacity is 2.0 Terabytes uncompressed (5.2 TB compressed). The transfer rate for the Spectra 10000 is from 6.0 to 24.0 Megabytes per second (15.6 MB/sec to 62.4 MB/sec compressed). These transfer rates provide up to 224.6 Gigabytes per hour in a single tape library while requiring only seven inches of rack-mount space. The Spectra 10000 family features a standard electronic barcode reader, dust-proof entry-exit port, and an intuitive touch screen user interface. Spectra Logic award winning AIT tape libraries are available with either AIT-1 and AIT-2 tape drives.

Availability and Upgrades

Spectra 10000 tape libraries equipped with AIT-2 drives are available immediately. Spectra Logic offers an AIT-2 Upgrade Program to enable existing AIT-1 customers to take advantage of the new drives. AIT-2 tape drives are fully backward compatible with both the 25GB (170 meter) and 35 GB (230 meter) AIT-1 media. Contact Spectra Logic Technical Support for additional information.

About Spectra Logic

Since 1979, Spectra Logic has served as a premier developer and manufacturer of backup software and tape library hardware providing data protection for the rapidly growing storage marketplace. The Boulder-based company's products operate on a broad range of platforms and operating systems. Spectra Logic is located at 1700 North 55th St., Boulder, Colo. 80301. For more information, contact Spectra Logic by phone at 800/ 833-1132, or visit the company's Web site at www.spectralogic.com.

The Spectra Logic logo is a trademark of Spectra Logic Corp. All other names are trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective companies.