Quantum Starts Mass Production of Award-Winning Atlas 10K Disk Drives—Now With Advanced Fibre Channel Interface - Product Announcement

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Nov 15, 1999

Quantum Corporation's Hard Disk Drive Group Tuesday announced that it has started mass production of its Atlas 10K disk drives with a Fibre Channel interface. The Atlas 10K Fibre Channel drives encompass a feature set optimized for the SAN environment and gives IT professionals new efficiencies for large-scale, multi-drive topologies. Available with full-duplex capability, Atlas 10K drives process simultaneously on two ports, each at 200MB per second. Technologies such as third-party XOR, multiple exchanges, outstanding credit system and dual Loop-in-Process (LIP) controllers put the Atlas 10K drives at the forefront for enterprise computing and high I/O applications. An integral part of a high-performance video-on-demand demonstration, the Atlas 10K Fibre Channel drives provide the advanced storage technology behind a Comdex demonstration in the FCIA (Fibre Channel Industry Association) room.

The Atlas 10K Fibre Channel Drive is offered in the most popular capacities at9, 18, and 36GB, runs at 10,000 RPM and achieves a 5.0ms seek time. These drives can run at speeds up to 200MB per second with up to 126 drives in a single loop. The Atlas 10K Fibre Channel drive incorporates all industry standard Fibre Channel features including Command on Second Port, FCAL2 Rev 6.3, Public Loop Support, and Extended Enclosure Services.

"Quantum has leveraged every available Fibre Channel interface technology to build a drive that can truly make SAN computing more practical and let end users reap the rewards of efficient storage area networks," said Tim Fondiller, vice president of marketing at Quantum. "Just one factor in this equation is Quantum's total commitment to building-in, testing and ensuring interoperability with the other components of multi-drive systems." Interoperability is Key

"Interoperability with other enabling technologies including enclosure, controller, and switch device is critical to providing end-to-end fibre solutions," said Bill Clemmey, Quantum's Fibre Channel product line manager. "At Quantum, we recognize that we're a part of the complete solution for the end user and have developed a rigorous interoperability assessment strategy to provide predictable results."

Quantum fully supports the programs of the FCIA community and is a consistent participant in its PLUGfests to assure the "plug and play" capabilities of important Fibre Channel system components. Quantum also has a longstanding relationship with the UNH Fibre Channel Compliance Lab where low-level Fibre Channel compliance is tested on its drives on a regular basis.

Quantum Atlas 10K Fibre Channel has an extensive partner program with industry-leading controller, switch, and Fibre Channel solution companies. All major controller companies have either qualified or are currently qualifying the Atlas 10K Fibre Channel disk drives.

Advanced Features for Workable SAN and RAID Environments By implementing several unique Fibre Channel performance features, the Atlas 10K allows the user to optimize performance in SAN environments. The key features are third-party XOR, full duplex, multiple exchanges, a superior outstanding credit system and dual LIP controllers. To learn more about these unique Atlas 10K Fibre Channel features, stop by the Quantum Fibre Channel demonstration at Comdex.

The Atlas 10K Fibre Channel drive's full-duplex, dual-port Fibre Channel interface supports simultaneous transmit and receive of data/commands on the first port and concurrent receive of commands on the second port, thus boosting overall system performance. Quantum has incorporated third-party XOR capability onto the drive, which enables superior performance in SAN and host-based RAID applications. The drive supports multiple exchanges and multiple sequences to optimize performance, especially in SANs, where many systems and devices will be vying for bandwidth and control. It offers a superior outstanding credit system to improve SAN loop efficiency, and utilizes two independent LIP controllers to deliver better performance on both SAN loops concurrently.

Availability and Pricing The 9GB, 18GB and 36GB capacity drives for the Atlas 10K Fibre Channel will be shipping in volume in November 1999. Manufacturer's suggested retail prices for the new Quantum Atlas 10K Fibre Channel drives are:

9GB $499 18GB $799 36GB $1399

Founded in 1980, Quantum Corporation (www.quantum.com) is the world's leading storage supplier in four of the six markets it serves: desktop hard disk drives, tape drives, network attached storage (NAS) appliances and solid state systems. Quantum is also the second largest supplier of mid-range tape automation systems and a leading supplier of high capacity hard disk drives. In 1999 Quantum became the first Silicon Valley company to issue tracking stock, replacing its existing common stock with the ticker symbols DSS and HDD, which track the separate performance of the company's DLT and Storage Systems and Hard Disk Drive businesses. Both stocks are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Selling its products through OEM and distribution channels worldwide, sales for the fiscal year ending March 1999 were $1.3 billion for Quantum's DLT and Storage Systems Group and $3.6 billion for Quantum's Hard Disk Drive Group.