IBM Unveils Powerful Storage Solutions for IBM Netfinity Server Customers
NEW YORK (April 15, 1998) – IBM today announced the next generation of 18GB(1) and 9GB 10,000 RPM hard disk drives and its powerful 20/40GB DLT and 10/20GB NS Internal SCSI Tape Drives(2). The new storage products allow IBM Netfinity server customers to enhance their system’s performance and expand storage capabilities to meet the needs of their growing businesses.
Growth of e-business across all organizations places increased demands on storage systems and data throughput. High performance storage technology can help maximize the productivity of the user.
“As companies increasingly rely on the Internet to conduct business, they must have a flexible and scalable technology infrastructure to help them grow and protect their computing investment,” said Bob Galush, director of Options Business Line Management, IBM Personal Systems Group. “IBM’s new 10,000 RPM drives and tape drive backup solutions provide IBM Netfinity customers with the tools to enhance the performance and storage capacity of their servers, protect critical data and distribute applications across their growing network at increased performance levels.”
Scalable Storage Capacity
IBM is dedicated to providing scalable and flexible storage solutions for businesses as they continue to expand and grow e-business initiatives. IBM was the first major PC vendor to supply customers with robust 10,000 RPM hard disk drives when it introduced a 4GB drive for its rack-mountable IBM Netfinity EXP10 Storage Expansion Enclosure last September.
Today’s announcement continues this technology leadership, and for customers who require the ultimate in data storage, the new 18GB drive provides the maximum capacity available in a 10,000 RPM drive at a low cost per storage megabyte. The drive has planned
availability of third quarter 1998 for use in the Netfinity 7000 and 5500 servers and the Netfinity EXP10 Storage Expansion Enclosure.
The new 9GB 10,000 RPM drive further expands IBM’s portfolio of high-performance storage solutions. The drive is optimized to accommodate Netfinity’s slim-high storage bays, enabling users to double their server’s storage capacity. This new drive has a planned availability of early third quarter 1998 for use in the Netfinity 7000, 5500 and EXP10 Storage Expansion Enclosure.
In today’s demanding business environments, every second counts. Both new drives are hot-swappable to help eliminate down-time during server maintenance and help keep the customer’s network processing data at a high performance capacity.
Data Control From Top to Bottom
IBM’s new tape backup solutions enable Netfinity customers, from small and medium businesses to the largest global enterprises, to have a complete menu of tape choices to meet their data backup needs. IBM now has cost-effective offerings from 4GB to over 1 terabyte (1 TB = 1,050GB) in tape formats including Travan, Digital Audio Tape, 8mm and Digital Linear Tape. From single drives to libraries, all IBM tape solutions are backed by IBM’s technical support and service, including Netfinity Startup.
The new 20/40GB Digital Linear Tape Internal SCSI Drive is a low-cost DLT solution for mainstream to enterprise servers including Netfinity 5500 and 7000 systems. The drive backs up data at super-fast speeds of up to 10.8GB per hour in compressed mode, or 5.4GB per hour in native mode. The new 20/40 tape media is read/write compatible with the 35/70GB DLT tape drive, giving scalability to enterprise customers with multiple tape drive requirements.
The IBM 10/20GB NS Internal Tape Drive is ideal for small to medium-size businesses with a Netfinity 3000, 3500 or 5500 server that demand a flexible and scalable tape solution at a modest price. The drive delivers a fast data back-up rate of 7.2GB per hour with hardware compression, or 3.6GB per hour when operating in native mode. Plus, the new NS drive is backward-read compatible with the IBM TR4 4/8 SCSI Tape Drive to provide a scalability path for entry-level server customers.
IBM’s new tape drives are designed and tested to provide Netfinity customers with the ultimate in data protection. Like other members of IBM’s extensive portfolio of tape solutions, both the 20/40GB DLT Drive and 10/20GB NS SCSI Drive are compatibility tested with a wide range of tape backup/restore software in environments including Novell Netware, Windows NT, OS/2 and SCO Open Server, as well as IBM’s ADSM storage management software for the 20/40GB DLT Drives.
As with all IBM tape back up solutions, the new 20/40 DLT and NS 10/20 drives include award-winning Seagate Back-Up Exec software at no additional charge. IBM customers do not need to deal with encryption keys or trial expirations; these back up drives are ready to go right out of the box. The new drives will include version 7.0 for NT environments, 7.5 for Netware environments, and 2.2 for OS/2.
Pricing and Availability
The estimated reseller prices(3) for IBM’s new 20/40GB Digital Linear Tape Internal SCSI Drive and 10/20GB NS SCSI Internal Tape Drive are $3,105 and $689 respectively. The 20/40 DLT drive will be available to customers at the end of April, and the 10/20 NS drive will begin shipping by the end of the second quarter. Both tape drives are protected by a three-year limited warranty(4) with IBM’s service and support available 24 hours per day, seven days per week(5). Pricing will be available for the new 18GB and 9GB 10,000 RPM hard disk drives when product ships in the third quarter.
Source: IBM