|
contents | business | |||||||
| More than 2M LTO Ultrium Format Tape Drives and 80M Cartridges Shipped HP, IBM and Quantum announce that the LTO Ultrium format has achieved yet another milestone that signifies the substantial market acceptance of the benefits that the tape format brings to the data center. Based on current data, the program has seen more than two million LTO Ultrium tape drives shipped worldwide since products based on the format first became commercially available in September 2000. In addition, LTO Ultrium format cartridge shipments have now surpassed a total of 80 million units since September 2000, an increase of over 30 million cartridges since the LTO Program's last milestone announcement in September 2006. LTO generation 4 tape products are designed to deliver the backup and archiving features needed by today's storage administrators, including high capacity, blazing performance and data protection features. With low energy consumption, LTO tape products also provide organizations with a green alternative for the data center. Studies have shown that tape-based backup and archiving solutions can deliver substantial TCO benefits compared to comparable disk-only backup approaches. LTO format generation 4 brings numerous advantages over the preceding generation, doubling physical storage capacity by delivering up to 1.6TB (assuming 2:1 compression) per cartridge. Transfer rates are also improved to allow generation 4 to reach speeds up to 240MB per second from up to 160MB per second in generation 3 (assuming a 2:1 compression). As with LTO format generation 3, the new generation format also continues to offer WORM (Write-Once, Read-Many) functionality that provides cost-effective means for storing data in a non-rewriteable format to help address compliance needs. For additional security, LTO format generation 4 supports 256 Bit AES-GCM encryption capabilities at the tape drive level that are designed to enable the writing of encrypted data to the LTO Ultrium tape cartridge, helping to protect information on the tapes during storage and transportation. LTO format generation 4 provides for drives with backwards-compatible read-and-write capability to store and retrieve data with the LTO format generation 3 cartridges, and backward read capabilities with generation 2 cartridges, to help protect the investment customers have made in LTO products. The LTO program offers several different license packages – from enhanced packages that provide the specifications and licenses to manufacture LTO Ultrium products, to basic packages, providing LTO format specifications and guidelines for interchangeability. Buyers seeking LTO Ultrium format-compliant products should look for the LTO Ultrium format compliance verification trademarks on both tape drives and data cartridges. Storage and media manufacturers interested in licensing LTO formats may obtain information by contacting the LTO Program through www.ultrium.com/contact.php. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Computing News :: home page |