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Quantum Launches SuperDLT

Quantum Corp. has officially launched its successor to the successful DLT line of tape storage. The SuperDLT drives released yesterday offer the ability to read both SuperDLT and DLT tapes, making the line an attractive upgrade path for enterprises with installed DLT assets.

SuperDLT adds an optical tracking system on the rear side of the tape. A laser, allowing more precise movement of the tape, reads a band of reflective material, similar to a CD. The tracking systems enables greater confidence that the correct part of the tape is contacting the head, so more data can be crammed on the tape. In addition, the tracking system enables faster searches for data.

SuperDLT features native 110-GB capacity and up to 220 GB compressed. The drives are able to transfer 11MB per second uncompressed, which the company says is the fasted transfer time on the market. Quantum hopes to double capacity and transfer speed on an 18 month to two year product cycle.

SuperDLT drives have been available since late last year, but only supported native SuperDLT tapes. The new drives give administrators to use both SuperDLT and DLT tapes in the same drive. Quantum officially launches the line with the release of the backward read compatible drives.

Although Quantum leads in market share, it was the last tape vendor to release its next generation product. Exabyte Corp. brought its Mammoth 2 tape system to market in early 2000, followed by the release of Ultrium by LTO Consortium members in the fall of 2000. LTO was developed by a group of storage vendors, including IBM Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., and Seagate Inc. – Christopher McConnell

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

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