Conner announces Tape-Stor 4000-IDE, industry's first ATAPI IDE standard minicartridge tape drive.COSTA MESA Costa Mesa (kŏs`tə mā`sə), city (1990 pop. 96,357), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific south of Santa Ana; inc. 1953. It is a transportation, residential, and light industrial center. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 13, 1995--Conner Tape Products Group, a unit of Conner Peripherals Conner Peripherals was a company that manufactured hard drives for personal computers. Conner Peripherals was founded in 1986 by Seagate Technology co-founder Finis Conner, as a merger between a company of his and another started by MiniScribe founders John Squires and Terry Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :CNR See riser card. CNR - Communication and Network Riser ), Monday added the Tape-Stor 4000-IDE to its Tape-Stor family of tape backup Using magnetic tape for storing duplicate copies of hard disk files. Users can add an internal or external tape drive to their desktop computers for backup purposes, and files are typically copied to the tapes using a backup utility that updates on a periodic schedule. systems packaged for retail sales. The Tape-Stor 4000-IDE is the industry's first ATAPI (AT Attachment Packet Interface) The specification for ATA (IDE) tape drives and CD-ROMs. See IDE. ATAPI - AT Attachment Packet Interface (ATA (1) (AT Attachment) The specification for IDE drives. See IDE. (2) See analog telephone adapter. ATA - Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface) IDE minicartridge tape drive. This new product is designed for high-end desktop computers and workstations, and includes Conner Backup Exec software for DOS and Windows. "The Tape-Stor IDE represents a significant advancement in tape drive connectivity. The ATAPI IDE format allows users to integrate the Tape-Stor 4000-IDE drive into their PC systems with unparalleled flexibility," said Robert Morris, vice president of tape marketing at Conner. "Tape-Stor 4000 is breakthrough technology not yet offered by any other vendor. It offers equivalent capacity at better performance than DAT (1) (Dynamic Address Translator) A hardware circuit that converts a virtual memory address into a real address. See also DAT file. (2) (Digital Audio Tape) A magnetic tape technology used for backing up data. at less than half the cost." The Tape-Stor 4000-IDE drive has a 4GB compressed capacity and offers data transfer rates of up to 54MB per minute. It joins Conner's existing Tape-Stor storage solutions family of one-inch-high, 3.5-inch form factor, high-performance minicartridge tape drives. The Tape-Stor 4000 minicartridge family now offers both SCSI SCSI in full Small Computer System Interface Once common standard for connecting peripheral devices (disks, modems, printers, etc.) to small and medium-sized computers. SCSI has given way to faster standards, such as Firewire and USB. and IDE products featuring IntelliTrak high-speed tracking technology developed by Conner. These products bring the performance characteristics typically associated with DAT products in a highly reliable minicartridge at less than half the cost. IntelliTrak technology relies on an intelligent head-to-tape interface for extremely precise tracking, providing reliable operation at high speeds. The new minicartridge tape drive supports the QIC-157 ATAPI IDE interface, which is an enhanced version of the ATA IDE standard -- the interface typically used with hard disk drives in personal computers. With an ATAPI IDE interface, users may add tape and CD-ROM drives for a total of up to four internal IDE peripherals. Conner's Tape-Stor package comes equipped with its own dedicated IDE interface card, making Conner's new tape drive easy to integrate in most PC systems. Key Features of the Tape-Stor 4000-IDE Minicartridges Tape Drive -- Higher capacity -- up to 4GB: The new tape drive uses media that are factory-preformatted, ensuring successful interchange between QIC (Quarter Inch Cartridge) A magnetic tape technology introduced in the early 1980s that has been widely used for backup. It was the first popular tape format for PCs. 3080 tape drives. See chart for media type and capacity: Media (900 Oe, 400 feet) Native Compressed (typical) QIC-Wide 2GB 4GB Quarter-inch 1.6GB 3.2GB -- Complete solution kit: The Tape-Stor 4000-IDE is a complete kit which includes Backup Exec software for DOS/Windows, the industry's leading data-protection software package. In addition, the solution kit features a dedicated IDE interface card. Mounting hardware required to mount the drive in either 5.25-inch or 3.5-inch slots are included, as well as necessary cabling for easy installation. Kits also contain one free preformatted QIC-Wide tape offering up to 4GB capacity for a $29 value. -- Precision burst for reliable operation: High track densities used by the Tape-Stor 4000-IDE are achieved through "precision burst," a Conner proprietary intelligent head-positioning system. During precision burst preformatting, servo reference bursts are placed at the beginning and the end of the tape. These bursts are used by the tape drive's thin-film MR (magneto-resistive) head to ensure precision tracking. This process reduces head-positioning activity and provides reliable operation at high speed. -- Two-step process for data integrity: A two-step process ensures world-class data reliability. First, the preformatting process screens the media for deficits. Second, the level-six Reed-Solomon error correction code Noun 1. error correction code - (telecommunication) a coding system that incorporates extra parity bits in order to detect errors ECC telecommunication - (often plural) the branch of electrical engineering concerned with the technology of electronic (RS ECC (1) (Error-Correcting Code) A type of memory that corrects errors on the fly. See ECC memory. (2) (Elliptic Curve Cryptography) A public key cryptography method that provides fast decryption and digital signature processing. ) is used to deliver a hard error rate of less than one in 10 to the 15th power. -- FastSense for optimal performance: The Tape-Stor 4000-IDE tape drive writes data at a rate of up to 54MB per minute and is capable of a 450, 300 or 200 Kbps data transfer rate, depending on the capabilities of the host system. A proprietary Conner feature, FastSense allows the tape drive to sense automatically the speed of the host system and to use the fastest available data transfer rate. -- Conner Backup Exec for data protection: The Tape-Stor 4000-IDE package includes Backup Exec for Windows/DOS, a full-featured software solution that contains powerful tools to protect data on either standalone DOS or Windows systems or networked servers in Novell environments. Pricing and Availability The Tape-Stor 4000-IDE will be available in February 1995 through Conner's authorized distributors and retail chains, such as Best Buy, CompUSA, Computer City and Office Depot. The manufacturer's suggested retail price will be $629 (U.S.). Based in Costa Mesa, the Conner Tape Products Group, formerly Archive Corp., offers a complete line of digital audio tape See DAT. (storage, music) Digital Audio Tape - (DAT) A format for storing music on magnetic tape, developed in the mid-1980s by Sony and Philips. As digital music was popularized by compact discs, the need for a digital recording format for the consumer existed. (DAT), minicartridge and data cartridge products for DOS, OS/2, Windows, UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). and NetWare systems, plus DEC, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) , Apple, Sun and other platforms. The group sells through the Conner worldwide sales force to qualified OEMs, system integrators, distributors, resellers, retailers and mass merchandisers. Founded in 1986, Conner sells, designs and builds a comprehensive line of information storage solutions, including disk drives, tape drives, storage management software and storage systems products, for a wide range of computer applications. Conner had 1993 sales of $2.2 billion. -0- NOTE: All products mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. CONTACT: Conner Tape Products Group, Costa Mesa Leilani Smith, 714/641-2435 or Miller Communications, Marina del Rey, Calif. Sylvia Clark/Leslie Furuta, 310/822-4669 |
|
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion