|
|
Rubrik: World-wide News/Products & News LTO
Program: LTO Ultrium Format Bucks the Storage Trend LTO
Ultrium Generation 3 Planned for Announcement in 2004 with 800GB Compressed
Capacity (31.12.03)
- It has been a good year so far for the LTO Program as the Ultrium format
continues to buck the data storage trend of slow growth. Certance (formerly Seagate Removable
Storage Solutions), HP and IBM Corporation, the three technology provider
companies (TPCs) for the LTO (Linear Tape-Open) Program, continue to see
strong acceptance of the LTO Ultrium format as evidenced by the format's 2:1 penetration versus the
SDLT format based on the Gartner Dataquest, Tape Drive Review and Forecast
June 2003. According to Gartner, LTO tape drive shipments for the first nine
months of 2003 are still outpacing SDLT shipments by nearly 2:1.
Anzeige
"We
believe the analyst research and shipment data for the LTO Ultrium format
make it undeniably clear - the LTO Ultrium format is a hot data storage tape
technology that continues to address pent up demand from customers
world-wide," said Barry Rudolph, Vice President, Tape Storage Systems,
IBM. "One key factor to the success of the Ultrium format has been
reliability, as indicated by an energy and utilities sector LTO
customer." "Customer
experiences like that are the key to the future of the LTO technology,"
added Rudolph. Based on a July 9, 2003 report by Gartner Dataquest titled
"2003 Tape Automation Systems Forecasts," more than twice as many
LTO tape libraries were shipped in large automation solutions in 2002 as
compared to libraries based on DLT/SDLT. In July
2003, more than 10 million LTO Ultrium format tape cartridges - with a
combined capacity of 2,000 petabytes - had shipped world-wide and now over
400,000 LTO Ultrium format tape drives have shipped since September 2000 when
products based on the format first became commercially available. The Ultrium format Generation 2
became available in December 2002, and new generations of LTO Ultrium technology
are planned for introduction every 18 to 24 months. Generation 3 is currently
planned to offer 800GB cartridge capacity (2:1 compressed), and up to 160MB/s
data transfer speed (2:1 compressed). The LTO
technology is designed to offer value to users as much for its open standard
and solid roadmap as for its high capacity, performance and reliability. LTO
technology is being used to help manage and protect the ever increasing
amounts of data that pressure backup and restore windows as well as to support
the ability of users to reliably archive storage for regulatory requirements
and reference data. The LTO
Ultrium format is the only super drive technology based on an open standards
specification, providing the benefits of competition while supporting data
interchange. This open standards specification, available or license to any
manufacturer, already has an impressive roster of over 30 licensees. This
allows users to choose from a number of tape drive and data cartridge
offerings. This pro-competitive environment is intended to foster
technological innovation, competitive pricing, and multiple sources of
compatible products. The LTO
Ultrium format Generation 2's storage capacity and data transfer peed are
among the highest in the industry at 400GB (assuming 2:1 compressed)
cartridge capacity, with drive data transfer speeds of up to 0MB/s (assuming
2:1 compression). High-end robotic tape libraries using second-generation LTO
Ultrium drives have recently demonstrated backup and restore speeds from
three to five TB an hour. The second-generation Ultrium format tape drives
also offer backwards-compatible read-and-write capability with the Ultrium
format Generation 1, helping to protect the investment customers made in LTO
technology. How to License LTO Ultrium Technology The LTO
Program offers several different license packages - from enhanced packages
that provide the specifications to manufacture Ultrium Generation 2 products,
to basic license packages, providing Ultrium format specifications and
guidelines for interchangeability. Buyers seeking Ultrium format-compliant
products should look for the Ultrium format compliance verification marks on
both tape drives and data cartridges. Storage and media manufacturers
interested in licensing LTO technology may obtain information by contacting
the Law Offices of Ladas & Parry at (323) 934-2300, or by e-mail at LTO_INFO@ladasparry.com. About Linear Tape-Open (LTO) Technology LTO
technology is a powerful, scaleable, open tape format created by technology
providers Certance, HP, and IBM Corporation to help meet the growing demands
of data protection in the midrange to enterprise-class server
environments. This new generation
of tape storage products is designed to deliver outstanding performance,
capacity and reliability combining the advantages of linear multi-channel,
bi-directional formats with enhancements in servo technology, data
compression, track layout, and error correction. The LTO
Ultrium format storage solution is a single-reel, high-performance tape
cartridge suitable for backing up, restoring, and archiving applications. As
a technology for ultra-high capacity storage, the LTO Ultrium format has a
well-defined four-generation roadmap for growth and scalability - a roadmap
that projects a doubling of speed and capacity with each new generation. While the LTO Program gives licensees wide latitude in implementing mechanical and electrical designs, strict adherence is required to format specifications impacting the ability to read and write Ultrium format tape cartridges. Independent compliance verification is vital to meet the free-interchange objectives that are at the core of the LTO Program. With numerous compliance checkpoints for each LTO technology product, end-users and OEMs can benefit from data interchangeability between LTO products regardless of the manufacturer. (ma) LTO Program Anwaltskanzlei: Ladas & Parry Tel. (001-323) 934-2300 E-Mail: lto-info@ladasparry.com Web: www.ladasparry.com |
