SDLT Rallies The Troops For Battle Against LTD.

Secret weapon may be a large installed DLT base

Not since their release of DLT 7000 in 1996 has Quantum delivered a product as significant as Super DLT. Now poised to take center stage, SDLT delivers three times the capacity and two to three times the performance of its predecessor. To date, Quantum has shipped more than 1.6 million DLT drives and 55 million DLT media cartridges throughout the world. In additioin, Tandberg, currently the only second source manufacturer of DLT 7000 and 8000, will also supply SDLT mid to end March. Since it is likely that a number of DLT users will upgrade to Super DLT, Quantum is confident they have a built in base of Super DLT consumers.

Quantum is also pursuing the mid-range market place, hoping to attract leading systems manufacturers, high-end automated library manufacturers, and major enterprise backup software vendors. "If you compare SDLT to tape manufacturers like Mammoth, we ship 75% of total units," said Phil Treide, product marketing manager for Super DLTtape.

According to Treide, people using DLT drives will want to upgrade for two main reasons. The first is to avoid the problem of shrinking backup window, which is especially true for the automation market. And the second reason is to attain greater capacity, since Super DLTtape I offers up to 120GB native or 220GB compressed. Super DLTtape I also offers a new positive engagement tape leader buckling mechanism and robust cartridge shell material that supports the increased load/unload performance demanded in high-end and automated computing environments.

Considering that Hewlett Packard and IBM represent two thirds of the LTO partnership, it is significant that Quantum is partners with both companies. Treide believes this partnership confirms that people are not inclined to migrate from one technology to another, and is one more reason why SDLT seems to have a competitive edge over LTO.

Another factor that Quantum believes will push its sales ahead of LTO is backward-read compatibility with existing 4000, 7000, and 8000, using DLTtape IVT media. "I wouldn't underestimate the experience of dealing with seven previous generations," Treide said.

System customers such as Compaq, Dell and IBM are already receiving shipments of SDLT. In addition, OEMs like ATL, ADIC, Overland Data, and Compaq are also supporting SDLT. Compaq received Super DLTtape units as part of Quantum's Early Engagement Program (EEP).

Technology

Quantum is offering a family of tape storage drives that will be offered in three ranges. The multi-range offering of Super DLTtape technology provides capacity and transfer rates appropriate for the workgroup, mid-range, and enterprise business needs. The Super DLTtape drive will deliver a capacity of 80GB and a transfer rate of 8MB/sec geared toward workgroup and departmental servers. Next is a drive with a capacity of 110GB and transfer rate of 11MB/sec meant for mid-range market, including large corporate departments and mid-size automated libraries. Finally, in response to high performance enterprise needs, Quantum is offering a Super DLTtape drive with a transfer rate of greater than 16MB/sec. (All stated specifications are in native/uncompressed mode).

Super DLTtape products support all major systems and platforms including Unix, Linux, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Netware, and Mac OS. Also, all major independent software vendors (ISVs) support Super DLTtape drives.

System managers and partners may find SDLT more power efficient to use since it will require 26 watts as compared to 33 in previous generations. Heat is reduced, and track density has increased with the introduction of Laser Guided Magnetic Recording (LGMR). The optical servo tracking on the backside of the media has doubled track density by allowing 100% of recording surface to be used for data storage. The result is the previously mentioned 100GB of capacity at an 11MB/sec transfer rate.

Super DLTtape I media uses the Advanced Metal Particle (AMP) formulation to provide high recording density and to increase media capacity. It also includes a back coating that contains optical servo tracks, which enable customers to utilize the entire magnetic surface of the media for recording data. The rugged cartridge design is built with special structural features to minimize physical damage. Super DLTtape also features a buckling link that provides strong engagement with Super DLTtape drives. The new modular drive design is assembled on a robotic manufacturing line, which minimizes human intervention and checks for manufacturing defects automatically.

Quantum is also testing the product in parallel with their OEMs. Having just shipped SDLT products to Overland, SDLT's future automation partners include ATL Products, StorageTek, ADIC, and Hewlett Packard. Quantum is expecting system customer announcements to come in March and the bulk of announcements in the second calendar quarter.

According to Treide, people are using tape drives more efficiently, which is having a positive effect on market acceptance and increasing the overall number of customers.

To those who worry that tape is becoming obsolete, Treide would say not to worry. When compared to hard drives, tape in an automated environment is an estimated 10 times cheaper, a better long-term storage medium, and ideal for replicating data at a remote site for a low cost. And because tape allows users to place data at a remote site and is inexpensive to maintain, it is a good medium for disaster recovery. With the performance provided by fiber optic wide area networks, people can take archive data on site and never have to physically move the tape off site.

As businesses shift to larger tape automation, as opposed to a single tape drive Quantum hopes to cultivate new users for tape by developing a transparent near line application using tape instead of disk. They also would like to expand the use of automation in NT and Novell markets. According to Treide, it was not until the introduction of DLT that the market provided NT and Unix users with more robust automation choices. Currently, major players include VERITAS and Legato, both of whom support DLT and ensure they will support SDLT. In the future, Quantum also hopes to gain a significant portion of NT users by continuing to offer a variety of robust: automation choices

"The challenge will be to wrap the product quickly in producing," Treide said. Super DLTtape must also compete with LTO, though with a strong OEM base and backward compatibility it seems Quantum arguably has a strong army in the battle for market dominance.