Features - Storage Innovations:

ADIC SCALAR 10K SETS NEW CAPACITY/AVAILABILITY BENCHMARKS

Advanced Digital Information Corporation, a leader in Intelligent Storage solutions for the open systems market, has unveiled a new dual-aisle version of its Scalar 10K automated tape library, boosting library capacity by up to 45% and creating the first tape system to provide ongoing access to stored data through virtually any service operation. The new Scalar 10K architecture provides an industry-first combination of high data storage and high availability, offering storage capacity of more than 22,000 tape positions and an availability package that includes full dual redundancy for robotics, power systems, and main library controllers.

The new architecture further enhances the Scalar 10K's position as the premier enterprise tape automation system. The dual-redundant design means that the library can remain operational with continued access to key user data through virtually all normal service procedures, as well as through system or power fault conditions. The library's enhanced capacity provides up to 2294 TB of native storage capacity, or nearly 6 petabytes with normal compression, in a single library(1). Access to the stored cartridges remains high as well, since both robotics systems can be active at the same time, in addition to providing failover capabilities.

"The new dual-aisle Scalar 10K provides the most advanced capacity and availability package available anywhere, giving both the management efficiencies of a single resource and levels of redundancy that allow it to keep data available even through the kinds of service procedures that shut other tape systems down," said Scott Roza, ADIC vice president of Branded Products. "This is a perfect solution for the large-scale enterprise IT environments -- including those supplying critical intelligence information or medical records -- where data is so central to the organizational mission that continual access to it must be maintained. Once again, ADIC is setting a new standard for what libraries can do."

The dual-aisle Scalar 10K features rows of high capacity, rotating storage towers which are mounted on either side of two completely redundant robotics systems served by separate control systems. This architecture creates a massive pool of tape capacity, and ensures uninterrupted data access to commonly accessed tapes through normal maintenance operations such as changing drives, upgrading power sources, updating robotics mechanisms, or even servicing the main library control units. The library also includes fully redundant, cross-coupled AC and DC power systems, ensuring that all library components, including drives, operate normally regardless of any external AC or internal DC power faults. True hot-swap drive capabilities and SAN drive address persistence mean that tape drives may be changed without requiring system restart for either the library or the host servers.

The Scalar 10K offers up to 624 tape drives and up to 22,938 cartridge positions, with support for LTO, S/DLT, 3590 and AIT technologies in singleor mixed-media configurations. The Scalar 10K is designed to improve the performance and reliability of SAN data storage, offering integrated Fibre Channel connectivity, controller-based path management, proactive data path readiness checks, integrated security options, and built-in drive performance optimization.

Dual-aisle Scalar 10K libraries will be available from authorized ADIC channel partners beginning in May. List price begins at $306,000.

(1) Maximum capacity specifications assume AIT-3 tape technology with average 2.6:1 data compression. ADIC and Scalar are registered trademarks and Intelligent Storage is a trademark of Advanced Digital Information Corporation. Market share data from IDC 2001 worldwide revenue and unit market share data for all automated systems using DLT, SDLT, LTO, 8mm or AIT drives and Gartner/Dataquest, Tape Automation Systems Market Shares, 2002, F. Yale, April, 2003.