Storage: StorageTek Introduces World's Fastest- Access Tape Drive Storage System At 1999 NAB Show - Storage Technology's 9840 DAT tape drive - Product Announcement

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, April 26, 1999

Underscoring its commitment to provide broadcasters with digital data management systems that deliver unprecedented speed, capacity and access, StorageTek (Storage Technology Corp.) Monday announced the broadcast market debut of its visionary StorageTek 9840 tape drive. Introduced to meet the storage-intensive applications of today's increasingly digital broadcast environment, the StorageTek 9840 tape drive spans more applications and platforms than any tape technology available on the market today -- or announced for future development. Supported on most leading video server platforms, and engineered to provide the kind of speed, access and capacity required by today's increasingly data-intensive broadcast applications, the revolutionary 9840 succeeds in meeting user capacity needs -- while addressing all major components of data performance. Using ultra-high track and byte densities, and moving the media at only 2 meters per second, the 9840 provides a massive uncompressed data rate of 10 megabytes per second. Further, it improves search time and the speed of first access to data to 8 seconds. Finally, each 9840 cartridge can store up to 20 gigabytes of uncompressed data. More than a single product introduction by the world's leading provider of network computing storage solutions, the 9840 drive is the first in a series of new generation StorageTek drives that is compatible for use with existing StorageTek libraries. A Revolutionary Tape Drive With Unprecedented Market Support: The StorageTek 9840 tape drive is the latest innovative tape transport in a three-decade history of industry-leading tape technology from StorageTek. Using StorageTek's innovative 1 x 1 parallel architecture, the 9840 builds upon an impressive array of tape-based storage solutions. The 1 x 1 parallel architecture combines a dedicated tape controller within each dedicated tape transport (CTU) which eliminates controller contention and provides maximum data throughput. The 9840 uses the latest generation in thin film heads, high density metal particulate cartridge-based media, and industry leading packaging to address ever increasing data storage and performance demands. This combination of fast raw data rate and dedicated controller, allow full exploitation of SCSI or Ultra-SCSI channels. Raw data rate is extremely important in today's mission critical data applications, but just as important is recall and retrieval rate. The 9840 addresses these issues as never before in a tape-based storage system. By employing a unique cartridge-based media and using a mid-point load, the 9840 delivers random data requests in less time than any other magnetic tape solution. Serpentine track recording, step-head technology, cartridge media, and mid-point load make tape-based random access applications a reality. In addition to its improved speed, search time and storage capacity, the 9840 tape drive also allows users to mix media within an automated library, attach more drives to a new or existing library (enabling space to be utilized more efficiently), move data even faster with simultaneous read or write to each controller transport unit, rely on proven reliability, support growth with unrestricted connectivity and adaptability, and migrate easily, when appropriate, to present and emerging technologies and topologies such as Fibre Channel and Storage Area Networks (SANs).

According to Michael Wilke, StorageTek solution manager for digital media solutions, the 9840 tape drive comes to the broadcast market with the solid support of leading software companies and system vendors -- including Avalon Consulting's Avalon Archive Manager and StorageTek's own ASM. "The StorageTek 9840 tape drive will dramatically change the way broadcasters more manage content view in a digital world. It is a true `no compromise' tape drive that offers broadcasters the optimum combination of features for performance-critical applications in today's digital-based broadcast environment." StorageTek is the preeminent provider of network storage. The company's strategy is to provide "Open, Intelligent and Integrated" solutions that combine storage products, storage management software and storage services. StorageTek solutions help customers collect, move, store, share and protect all types of digital content on platforms ranging from laptops to enterprise servers. The company, with headquarters in Louisville, Colo., reported revenue of $2.3 billion in 1998. Information on StorageTek is available on the World Wide Web at www.storagetek.com or phone 1-800-786-7835.