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In an effort to replace traditional tape-based data backups, storage legend Iomega Thursday announced the first product based on its Removable Rigid Disk (RRD) technology.
Dubbed the Iomega REV, the system will be available in external USB 2.0 and internal ATAPI internal drive configurations. Both versions offer 35GB of native space (90GB if you compress it using the bundled Iomega Automatic Backup Pro software). The San Diego, Calif.-based company reports the devices should be available as soon as March of 2004.
These RRD-configured disks are smaller than a deck of playing cards and have an expected native maximum transfer rate of 22 megabytes per second (MBps).
“The Iomega REV drive is revolutionary, combining the high speed, reliability, and ease of use of hard drive technology with the low cost of tape,” states Werner Heid, Iomega’s president and CEO. “When our customers see how the price and performance advantages of the Iomega REV system transform their existing network and desktop backup systems, they won’t go back to using high-maintenance tape drives, fragile tape backup media, or other removable storage options.”
For Iomega, the RRD technology behind the new REV system represents the first big advance from the company since adding a 720-gigabyte NAS server to its family of NAS products last year. Made famous by the “Zip” drive that revolutionized tape data backups, Iomega has developed a variety of removable tape storage products since the rise of compact disc-storage began threatening the tape backup market in the late 1990s.
Compared to older backup methods, Iomega said its new RRD-oriented drives are faster, more durable, and easier to maintain. The drives also provide random access, allowing users to copy or restore individual files in seconds, which is many times faster than currently possible with tape.
“The tape backup market is ripe for a replacement technology that can lower costs and revolutionize performance,” Heid notes, adding that the drives will cost less than $400, and that disks for the drives will sell for approximately $49 each.
In related news, Iomega officials also announced plans to work with German manufacturer BDT GMBH & Co. K.G., to develop tape replacement autoloader products using the new RRD technology under the REV line. BDT currently supplies about 70 percent of the low-end autoloader market through original equipment manufacturer (OEM) relationships with companies such as Hewlett Packard , IBM
, Quantum
, and ADIC
. Under the deal with Iomega, BDT would develop a full range of products, from full height 5.25-inch single drive products with 280 gigabytes of storage capacity to multi-drive 4U configurations with more than 4 terabytes of storage.
“BDT is very excited about Iomega’s new RRD technology and the opportunity it provides to millions of end users to optimize their data management requirements,” states Glenn Klein, BDT president and CEO. “With our combined technologies, we will be able to offer clients immediate random data access with online real-time throughput, plus online removable storage capability, all at entry-level prices.”
According to Klein, RRD technology from BDT in the form of BDT/Iomega-branded autoloader products should arrive in the second half of next year.
Story courtesy of Internet News.
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