IBM’s Magstar MP Offers the Best Combination of Data Rate and Access Time Among Midrange and Network Tape Storage Solutions
High Performance Magstar MP Model “C” Drives to be Incorporated in Enhanced Family of Tape Libraries Featuring New Multi-Path Architecture
SAN JOSE, Calif. (April 13, 1998) – IBM today announced significant enhancements to its family of Magstar MP tape drives and libraries that will provide fast, reliable access to data for unattended backup and restore operations in midrange environments. Magstar MP’s improved data rate gives customers the performance they need for supporting business-critical applications such as network storage management, data warehousing and digital libraries.
The Magstar MP 3570 Tape Subsystem has been improved to deliver 7 MB/second native sustained data rates (up to 15 MB/second compressed) which is over three times that of existing Model B drives. Combined with already proven fast access capability, the Magstar MP 3570 Model C offers a faster combination of data rate and access time than comparable midrange and network tape storage solutions. Storage managers will now be able to back up larger amounts of data in less time, a significant advantage in ”backup window” performance.
”Magstar MP’s high transfer rates and fast access to data make it a complete solution that offers unmatched flexibility to support virtually any standard backup environment as well as near-online applications,” said Kevin Reardon, business line manager, IBM Storage Systems Division.
In addition to the Magstar MP 3570, the Magstar MP 3575 Tape Library Dataservers have also been enhanced with the addition of a new patented Multi-Path architecture. The Multi-Path feature supports sharing of tape storage resources by multiple homogeneous and heterogeneous hosts. The Magstar MP subsystems and libraries attach to AS/400, RS/6000 and other leading SCSI-attached systems, including Hewlett-Packard [NYSE:HWP – news], Sun, and Windows NT.
The Multi-Path architecture of the 3575 tape libraries allows individual libraries to be partitioned into multiple logical libraries, each attached to one or more hosts. Each logical library is assigned separate storage slots, drives and control paths and shares I/O slots and library robotics. These new features allow customers to fully leverage their investment in tape automation.
The IBM Magstar MP 3575 Tape Library Dataservers can be tailored by customers to match their system capacity and performance needs from 300GB to 4.8TB (with 3:1 compression, using up to six Magstar MP drives in some models). Aggregate sustained data rates of 100GB to 300GB/hour with maximum data compression allow extremely high data transfer performance. Magstar MP 3575 libraries can retrieve a tape from a library slot, load it into a drive, seek and begin transferring data in under 20 seconds, making it well suited for time sensitive network data recall operations.
”The Magstar MP 3570 combined with the enhanced 3575 tape libraries, allows customers to get the maximum value out of their tape investment by fully leveraging the resources of a single tape library in a multi-platform, multi-server environment,” said Reardon.
More About Magstar MP
The Magstar MP tape drive, with the Magstar MP Fast Access Linear Tape Cartridge, is a leading tape automation solution for midrange networking users, with over 12,000 units installed. In addition to the mid-point load and self-enclosed tape handling features, the Magstar MP’s key features include Magneto-Resistive (MR) head technology, enabling high density storage and greater reliability, as well as servo tracking, ensuring high density data integrity.
In addition to its role in traditional tape applications, its extremely fast access to data also means the Magstar MP can be used for operations that were previously relegated only to hard disk or optical storage.
Source: IBM