After A Long-Awaited Delivery, IBM Births A Bouncing Baby LTO.

Ending a long-standing development cycle in late August, IBM announced that it is the first company to ship products based on Linear Tape-Open (LTO) technology. The high end Ultrium tape drives, likely to impact most midrange tape products, including the industry leading DLT drives, can back up at 30MB/sec. At that speed, LTO could read a 300-page novel in about three seconds.

LTO emerged as an industry initiative by IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Seagate to create an open industry-standard format for digital tape. The new technology allows customers to use tapes and drives interchangeably from any manufacturer using LTO. IBM will market LTO Ultrium drives and tapes for Unix and Windows 2000/NT users with the IBM brand and will also sell to selected OEMs.

The new IBM LTO family of products consists of the Ultrium Tape Drive with a capacity of up to 100GB in native mode and a variety of tape automation products. The Ultrium Tape Autoloader can hold up to seven tape cartridges (700GB); the Ultrium Scalable Tape Library automated tape library has a capacity of 18, 36, or 72 cartridges (7.2TB). The top of the line is the UltraScalable Tape Library; this automated tape subsystem can hold 877 to more than 2,400 cartridges (248TB).

Delivering Both Ends First

IBM representative Bob Maness discussed the rollout with CTR and sketched out the anticipated timeline for LTO-based introductions from the computing giant. On September 1, the LTO drive and the high-end UltraScalable library was made available through OEMs and the channel. The new products will be based on NT and Win2000. At the end of October, IBM will introduce the 7-cartridge autoloader and add HPUX and Solaris to the operating system mix. At the same time, the midrange library will be launched. In mid November, the entire product line will be available to support the AS/400.

This is a variation on the usual pattern of IBM introductions. Typically, Big Blue products are introduced for IBM server attach platforms first. In this case, OEMs and channel get the first crack. OEM partners for the new LTO product lines include NEC, ACER, ADIC, Exabyte, Plasmon, IBM PSG, Fujitsu- Siemens, and MSI. IBM has also lined up support from independent software companies, including Legato, Dantz, VERITAS, SCH, Tivoli, and Computer Associates.

Boost From 3590 Magstar

Many of the features incorporated into the IBM version of LTO have their foundations in the IBM 3590 product line. The drive features, for example, a chip for high-speed locate. Additionally, the drive offers a Statistical Analysis and Reporting System (SARS) designed to analyze the error history of a LTO cartridge.

The libraries leverage IBM designs for soft load and unload of cartridges, as well. Tapes will load using a push-pull motion that the drive participates in, eliminating the motion for automation of the robot. Other features include a track following servo, digital channel programming, and a head design founded in hard disk drive technology to address drift and headwear. The electronics have been consolidated on a single card.

In a prepared statement, IBM's Linda Sanford said: "The announcement of LTO is an important part of our leadership strategy for IBM's storage business. Superior products like LTO--with its ability to store and access vast amounts of data with superior performance and reliability, will allow IBM to deliver open storage networking solutions--including Storage Area Networks--that none of our competitors can match."

It is, perhaps, understandable that IBM sound its own horn just a bit; LTO is considered by observers as very late to market, allowing alternative technologies to more firmly entrench themselves in the marketplace, especially with library subsystem makers.

When asked about the delay, IBM's Maness said: "In putting this [product family] into a new OEM channel, we needed to set and exceed a number of reliability characteristics."

Maness cites write reliability, MTBF specification, and a minimum load/unload that had to meet a minimum standard before introducing the drives and libraries into the market.

Gartner/Dataquest tape industry analyst Fara Yale points out: "You have to be more vendor-specific when you think about timeframe."

IBM is now shipping. Seagate Technology's Brad Renfree reports that the Seagate vision of LTO is still undergoing compliance testing. Renfree states that channel availability of the drive should be in October. Hewlett-Packard spokespersons indicated that they have been shipping LTO drives to their OEM customers, but were hesitant to commit to a timetable for the branded product. Best estimates call for introduction in the Fall or later in 2000.

Riding The Wave

The IBM announcement takes place at a pivotal time for the tape industry. Although more new formats have been introduced in the last two years than at any other point in the industry's history, the tape drive market has been rather flat. Much of this has been due to softness in revenues for desktop tape drives that are in conflict with removable disk options. Some of it also has to do with the proliferation of file formats in the midrange.

Yet LTO is a technology specifically optimized for automation. With the explosion of e-business information and the slowly increasing popularity of storage architectures, like Storage Area Networking, tape subsystem automation is increasing in importance. According to IDC, the worldwide tape automation market will nearly double in size reaching $4.6 billion by 2004. The IBM introduction is likely to inspire a higher level of competition in an already robust market.

Sharing The Spotlight

Hard upon the announcement of IBM's LTO offering, Sony Electronics announced the development of AIT-3, the newest generation of Advanced Intelligent Tape. In a 3.5-in form factor, the new drive will also provide 100GB native capacity at an 11MB/sec sustained native transfer rate. The drives include a laminate head technology permitting a doubling of track density while maintaining data integrity. Memory In Cassette (MIC) is also incorporated, as is AME media.

Looking at the AME media, Tom Evans at Sony Electronics' Media Solutions Company notes: "AME continues to be one of the key enabling technologies to Sony's AIT format. Its recording density and smooth surface provide the durability and efficiency that are key considerations in high duty cycle enterprise and network storage."

Editor's Note: For a product as long awaited as LTO, there will be a plethora of vendors. An up-to-date listing can be found at www.wwpi.com. CTR will continue its expanded LTO coverage in October.