ADIC upgrades Scalar 100 tape library.

Advanced Digital Information Corporation, the leader in Intelligent Storage solutions for the open systems market, has announced an upgrade to its Scalar 100 enterprise tape library designed to make it easier for IT departments to support mixed backup architectures and reduce overall ownership costs. Key upgrade features, which will be delivered with new library firmware, include embedded library partitioning and integrated support for tape drives and media of different generations.

The new features, which will be offered initially with libraries deploying the new LTO-3 generation tape drives, will allow users to make the Scalar 100 appear to software applications as up to three separate libraries. The new partitioning feature will be a native library function that does not require any external library control software. Partitioning a library allows users to reduce costs and streamline management by using a single library to support multiple tasks.

"In the past, partitioning has been limited primarily to enterprise-class libraries, and many suppliers still require that users deploy external library-control software to take advantage of it," said Scott Roza, ADIC vice president of sales and marketing. "But with the advent of newer, high performance drives and the emergence of products like ADIC's Pathlight VX--a disk-based backup system that integrates closely with tape--users can manage some categories of enterprise backup tasks with a mid-range library and the right management tools. This upgrade is designed to give Scalar 100 users those tools. It means IT departments will be able to get more functionality out of their libraries, handle more complex backup jobs more easily, and get better data protection at lower cost."

Also included in the new firmware option in the Scalar 100, is the ability to more easily manage multiple generations of tape technology in the same system. With the new release, Scalar 100 libraries will provide automated compatibility checking routines that will ensure media and drive matching for users who mix LTO-2 and LTO-3 drives in the same cabinet.

"Up to now, users who want to take advantage of newer generation tape drives while preserving their investment in earlier technology versions have had to rely on their backup software applications to manage inter-generational compatibility," Mr. Roza continued. "With the new Scalar 100 firmware option, the library itself has become smart enough to keep track of drive and media versions and to make sure that compatibility is always maintained, no matter which versions of backup or archiving software are being used. This feature will give our users a wider range of application options, and ensure the integrity of their data."

The ADIC Scalar 100 firmware upgrade will be available in April 2005.

The ADIC Scalar 100 is a midrange library that offers the industry's leading combination of storage density, trouble-free scalability, and advanced storage networking support. The Scalar 100 supports from 15 to 72 tapes and from one to six drives, depending on technology choice and configuration. Supported drive technologies include LTO and SDLT. The Scalar 100's storage networking options enable iSCSI or Fibre Channel connectivity, and provide intelligent connectivity management to improve backup performance and reliability in SAN environments.