Exabyte has announced availability of its newest LTO automation product, the Magnum20 LTO Tape Library. The Magnum20 packs up to 8 IBM LTO tape drives and 148 Exabyte LTO cartridges into a 20u rack mount space delivering the highest automation density in the industry. Special features and options include 8-way partitioning, remote management, and direct Fibre Channel attachment avoiding the complications and saving the costs of intermediate routers and bridges. Magnum20 and LTO tape technology meet the capacity, performance, and budget requirements of mid-range and enterprise-class users. According to the company, at an MSRP of $16,499, the Magnum20 library delivers a cost per terabyte of less than $550, one-third the cost of other LTO tape libraries.
“The Magnum20 is the first member of a new family of high density, low cost automation products that we plan to introduce by the end of 2003,” commented Tom Ward, President and CEO of Exabyte. “Our strategy for the Magnum20 LTO Tape Library is very simple. We will leverage our feature set, density, and cost advantages, and our leadership position in Fibre Channel connectivity, to aggressively pursue and win market share in the LTO automation market.”
“Cartridge density and rack mount design in automation products are becoming more important to a growing number of users who face rising costs driven by expanding data storage needs and a shrinking supply of available floor space,” stated Fara Yale, chief analyst, Computer Storage Service, Gartner Dataquest.
“IBM is pleased to provide LTO drives for Exabyte’s newest tape library, the Magnum20 which integrates IBM LTO Ultrium SCSI and IBM Fibre Channel tape drives,” said Glen Allen, Program Director of OEM Tape Storage Marketing for IBM. “With up to eight LTO tape drives, Exabyte’s Magnum20 Library capitalizes on the speed and capacity advantages of IBM’s LTO technology.”
Flexibility and ease of use are key features of the Magnum20. Bar code scanning is a standard feature providing media management and faster access to data. A 5-cartridge entry/exit port is available for secure loading/unloading of data cartridges. The standard remote management features allows users to conveniently conduct any operation available through the library’s LCD panel from a PC at their desk, 3 buildings away or half way across the world. A library partitioning feature allows users to create as many as eight mini-libraries within a single Magnum20, maximizing flexibility and efficiency. Storage capacity can be expanded from 100GB to 29.6TB and performance from 54GB per hour to 864GB per hour without rearranging rack space and components or installing additional library modules. Redundant power supplies, IBM LTO tape drives, and Magnum20 interface cards are field installable by the user, and provide highly reliable, simultaneous support for multiple servers in a mixed SCSI and Fibre Channel environment.