HP Announces Family Strategy for New Ultrium-format Tape Backup Products - Product Development

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

Hewlett-Packard Company Monday announced its strategy to develop a family of Ultrium products comprising high-performance and entry-level tape drives, libraries and media for each generation of the new enterprise-class Ultrium tape format.

HP's Ultrium-format products are designed to meet the ever-increasing capacity, performance and reliability demands on data backup through such applications as SAP, OLTP and the Web. The new backup family will eliminate the need for organizations to deploy and support multiple storage technologies for midrange and enterprise systems in the future.

To keep pace with exponentially increasing storage demands of the enterprise, HP intends to introduce an Ultrium-format product family that includes stand-alone and rack-mount tape drives, in addition to autoloaders and libraries, that support SCSI and Fibre Channel for Storage Area Networks (SANs). HP Ultrium media will complete the product offering.

The HP Ultrium Family The first of HP's high-performance Ultrium tape backup products will have a 200GB capacity and a 108GB/hour transfer rate -- enabling 200GB to be backed up in less than two hours (assuming a 2:1 data-compression ratio).

To address the increasing adoption of libraries for management of large quantities of data within centralized networks, HP also plans to launch a family of Ultrium-based libraries and autoloaders. Current SureStore 2/20, 4/40 and 6/60 tape libraries are already field upgradable for incorporation of the high-performance Ultrium tape drive.

HP intends to follow these products with an entry-level Ultrium-format drive designed to be stand-alone and integrated within entry-level autoloaders, enabling IT managers to extend the reach of this enterprise-class technology within their organizations.

HP will also be launching a range of Ultrium data cartridges for use with HP and other Ultrium-format drives and libraries. HP-branded Ultrium media will undergo a demanding qualification process in which media performance will be tested under real-life stresses to ensure maximum reliability and safe data protection.

"The Ultrium format is racing toward introduction and will take the market by storm," said Jack Trautman, general manager for HP's Computer Peripherals Bristol division. "HP will continue to lead the development of the Ultrium format as an industry standard, and we will continue to broaden our Ultrium family in line with market needs."

Key Ultrium Advantages -- The only open tape format for enterprise and midrange markets -- Ultrium has the support of a growing base of storage vendors currently standing at 25 companies worldwide, including HP, Seagate, IBM, Fujitsu, Exabyte, Fuji, Maxell and Imation.

-- Data integrity -- Combining the advantages of linear multichannel, bi-directional formats with enhancements in servo technology, data compression, track layout and error correction code, the Ultrium format is so reliable that the data from a cartridge can be retrieved even if up to 32mm of tape has been damaged.

-- Based on proven technologies -- The Ultrium format is based on principles derived from several technologies available today that have then been optimized to enable Ultrium to meet future enterprise storage requirements.

-- Scalable format -- The Ultrium roadmap has uniquely defined a growth path over four generations leading to a product that can backup 1.6TB onto one cartridge in less that 1.5 hours (assuming 2:1 data compression).

U.S. Pricing and Availability HP's first Ultrium-format tape drive and media are scheduled to be shipped to HP's OEMs in the first half of 2000. Pricing will be announced at time of launch. More information is available at www.hp.com/go/ultrium.> Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services for business and home -- is focused on capitalizing on the opportunities of the Internet and the proliferation of electronic services.

HP plans to launch Agilent Technologies as an independent company by mid-calendar 2000. Agilent consists of HP's test and measurement, semiconductor products, chemical analysis and healthcare solutions businesses, and has leading positions in multiple market segments.

HP has 123,500 employees worldwide and had total revenue of $47.1 billion in its 1998 fiscal year. Information about HP, its products and the company's Year 2000 program can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.