Features - Storage Innovations:

QUALSTAR INTEGRATES IBM DRIVES IN TLS-8000 TAPE LIBRARIES

Qualstar Corporation, a leading manufacturer of automated tape storage solutions, announced the integration of IBM LTO 2 FC tape drives equipped with individual fibre channel interfaces into its highly regarded TLS-8000 Series Tape Libraries. Users can now take full advantage of the performance of the LTO 2 drives. The aggregate data transfer rate exceeds 2 terabytes per hour in Qualstar's TLS-88264 library equipped with eight drives, using typical compression techniques. The 560 megabytes per second of sustained data throughput surpasses many high performance disk-based RAID systems. The TLS-88264 library stores over 100 terabytes of data in less than 8 square feet of floor space.

Today's high performance tape drives are capable of sustained data transfer rates of more than 70 megabytes per second, per drive. Multi-drive tape libraries can easily overload even multiple 2 gigabit per second Fibre Channel data paths. Bottlenecks are created when using SCSI-to-Fibre Channel bridge architectures to connect SCSI-interface tape drives to Fibre channel SANs. Qualstar has eliminated the bottleneck and eased installation and management challenges by integrating IBM's new LTO 2 FC tape drives incorporating direct Fibre Channel attachment into all models of the TLS-8000 Series Tape Library Family.

Each tape drive has its own individual Fibre Channel connection to the SAN. Removing the SCSI-to-Fibre Channel bridge eases initial installation and simplifies ongoing SAN management. The result is higher throughput for faster data backups and restores, a key consideration for companies with sharply escalating storage requirements and shrinking backup windows.

Seven TLS-8000 models provide a range of cost-effective solutions, housing one to eight IBM LTO 2 FC tape drives and up to 264 tapes. These SANSmart libraries support the latest SAN technologies. Q-Link, Qualstar's browser-based remote manager, is supported on all models, enabling users to configure, monitor, diagnose and manage libraries from anywhere in the world.

The TLS-8000 Series offers superior performance and value for LTO tape users. With storage density approaching 14 terabytes per square foot of floor space and capacities from 1.1 to more than 100 terabytes, the TLS-8000 Series economically and reliably automates tape-based applications, whether backing up a single critical database or as an integral part of an enterprise-wide storage management solution.

"Our mission is to provide solid value through the application of innovative technology," said Bob Covey, Qualstar's vice president of marketing. "The TLS-8000 Tape Libraries with IBM LTO 2 FC direct fibre attachment deliver real advantages to our customers who are installing and managing backup and archive storage systems in complex SAN environments. We supply our customers with cost-effective storage and data protection, and fast, reliable access when they need it most."