HP Launches SureStore DAT24; First Volume Shipments of DDS-3 Tape Drives to the Distribution Channel.

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 1997--Hewlett-Packard Company today announced the HP SureStore DAT24, the first DDS-3 tape drive to ship in volume to the consumer. DDS-3 is the latest version of the DDS (Digital Data Storage) format, the standard for backup using DAT (Digital Audio Tape) technology. This launch makes 24GB capacity commercially available for the first time on one DAT tape for network backup. The HP SureStore DAT24 provides unparalleled connectivity and compatibility, as well as industry-leading diagnostics, offering a complete network backup solution.

The drive is distinguished by a series of technological innovations that have contributed to its industry-leading reliability, specified at 300,000 hours MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures). These include TapeAlert, a new firmware technology developed by HP for the diagnosis of tape-storage problems, and an automatic internal-head cleaner, specifically designed to eliminate the possibility of errors that might occur through dust clogging the mechanism.

The HP SureStore DAT24 has a compressed capacity of 24GB, enough to store the contents of more than 40 CD-ROMs, and offers a transfer rate of 2MB/s, or 7.2GB/hour. It uses a SCSI-2 interface and is fully supported by all major backup packages, including Seagate Backup Exec and Cheyenne ARCserve. It is priced at $2,101 for the external unit and $1,947 for the internal unit. The drive meets DDS-3 specifications, a roadmap for which is overseen by the 17-member DDS Manufacturers Group, chaired by HP.

"As the capacity of servers increases and backup windows shrink, the combined features of HP's DDS-3 offer a high level of cost-effective performance and reliability," said Bob Peyton, director of European Storage Research at International Data Corp., a Framingham, Mass.-based research firm. "As a result, HP is in a strong position to maintain leadership in the DAT market."

"The DDS-3 standard combines an unprecedented capacity with a transfer rate fast enough to ensure that the nightly backup window is short enough to cause minimal disruption to the operation of a network," said Tom White, general manager at HP Computer Peripherals Bristol. "HP has been leading the way in the DDS-3 standard, having shipped the first DDS-3 unit to OEMs in August 1996. The HP SureStore DAT24 does not just match the specifications of the DDS-3 standard, it enriches them with advanced technological features that will ensure unprecedented reliability and ease of use for end-users."

The SureStore DAT24, as a SureStore device, has the broadest connectivity in the industry. It is instantly compatible with the major network operating systems, including Netware and Microsoft(R) Windows(R) NT, and with the leading software packages for backup. This high level of connectivity is especially valuable for the administrator who must cope with networks incorporating a wide variety of operating environments.

"The DDS-3 standard, by providing greatly increased capacity and transfer rates, will enable users to take even greater advantage of the speed of Cheyenne's backup solutions," said Geoff Love, director of OEM sales, Cheyenne division of Computer Associates/Europe. "Cheyenne ARCserve for Windows NT represents an extremely fast, very reliable backup solution in the marketplace, and we're pleased to announce its support for the HP SureStore DAT24 drive, marking the delivery of complementary solutions from two industry leaders."

The exceptional reliability of the HP SureStore DAT24 has been extensively tested. It underwent 330,000 hours of performance testing that replicated movement and extreme climatic conditions. The range of advanced technical features contained within the drive's mechanism includes an innovative head cleaner, comprising sheets of tape that act like a chimney sweep's brush to make the cleaning process more thorough and efficient.

The drive also employs PRML (Partial Response Maximum Likelihood), which enables the bit density to be increased substantially; time tracking, which ensures optimum alignment of the heads through embedded time-marks; and FFE (the Feed Forward Equalizer), which allows the read head to adapt to irregularities in the data flow, ensuring that the drive maintains performance as it ages. The drive also comes with the industry-standard TapeAlert firmware installed -- a self-diagnostic tool enabling network administrators to recognize storage problems as they occur.

The drive uses new 125m DDS-3 media, which incorporates the Media Recognition System. The drive will be fully backwards-compatible with DDS-2 (120m) and DDS (60m and 90m) media. The low price of the DDS-3 media, $200 (U.S.) for five cassettes, ensures that DDS-3 offers the lowest cost of ownership per gigabyte of any tape format currently on the market at this capacity point. DDS-3 media will be supplied under the HP brand, which offers the widest range of branded tape media of any supplier.

"The launch of DDS-3 shows that DAT is increasing its momentum as the mainstream network storage technology through its low cost of ownership, its performance level, its ease of use and its absolute reliability," said Robert Hill, marketing manager at HP Computer Peripherals Bristol. "While other companies continue to try and shape the market around their product, we have looked at the market and developed products to suit it -- we have tried to ensure that the SureStore range is extensive enough to fit the performance and capacity requirements of any customer, whatever the budget. The SureStore DAT24 emphasizes our continuing commitment to be the first to develop new technologies that will benefit the end user."

HP's Information Storage Group, which focuses on the rapidly growing extended-storage market, manufactures and sells information-storage products based on tape, magneto-optical and CD technologies. HP storage solutions include digital-audio-tape (DAT) drives and digital-linear-tape (DLT) libraries, minicartridge (QIC) tape drives and software, CD-writeable drives, and magneto-optical drives and jukeboxes. These products are sold through a variety of distribution channels under the HP SureStore and HP Colorado brand names, as well as to OEM customers.

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global manufacturer of computing, communications and measurement products and services recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 112,000 employees and had revenue of $38.4 billion in its 1996 fiscal year.

Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com . -0-

Note to Editors: Microsoft is a U.S. registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Windows is a U.S. registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.

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