Message #7 From:
NewsBot Date: August 21, 2006 05:00:00 AM
EXBY News Exabyte Introduces Magnum 448 LTO Tape Library; Expands SMB Data Protection Options; Magnum 448 Scales from 19.2 to 38.4 TB(a) and from One to Four LTO Drives; Offers the Best Price/Performance Specs on the Market Today
BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 21, 2006--Exabyte Corp. (OTCBB:EXBY), the leading innovator in tape backup and recovery systems, today introduced the Magnum 448 LTO(TM) (Ultrium(TM)) Tape Library, bringing scalability and enterprise-class functionality to SMB/departmental and remote office/branch office users. At an estimated street price starting at $7,950, the Magnum 448 delivers performance, capacity, reliability and features at the most aggressive pricing of any tape library available today.
The Magnum 448 LTO Tape Library provides SMB customers unmatched flexibility to meet their specific data protection, backup, storage and archival requirements. The library is available in three configurations consisting of a single LTO-2 half-height SCSI drive, a single LTO-3 full-height SCSI drive, or a single LTO-3 full height Fibre Channel (FC) tape drive, along with four cartridge magazines that can hold a total of 48 LTO tape cartridges. Maximum data storage capacity is 19.2 TB(a) using LTO-2 cartridges and 38.4 TB(a) using LTO-3 cartridges.
SMBs may purchase and install additional tape drives, up to a maximum of four LTO-2 half-height drives, two LTO-3 full-height SCSI drives, or two LTO-3 full-height FC drives. Fully configured, the Magnum 448 will deliver an aggregate speed of 691 GB per hour(a) using four LTO-2 drives or 1,152 GB per hour(a) using two LTO-3 drives. An additional advantage afforded by the Magnum 448 is the use of Automation/Drive Interfaces (ADIs) to eliminate the need for and associated costs of a SCSI or Fibre Channel interface to the automation controller.
"SMB customers today want more flexibility with their storage systems while maintaining the traditional simplicity required by the SMB market. Exabyte clearly understands these unique customer requirements and continues to release innovative products such as the Magnum 448 to meet these demands," said Exabyte president Tom Ward. "The Magnum 448 is the newest member of our lineup of LTO automation products that have been developed expressly for SMB and departmental users."
The Exabyte Magnum 448 delivers a complete list of important features as well as user-friendly installation and configuration. Each library comes standard with a barcode scanner, Ethernet-based remote management, dual Import/Export media drawers, and a rackmount kit. Other library vendors may charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars extra for these key library components. In the near future, Exabyte will offer a free firmware upgrade for Magnum 448 libraries that enables logical partitioning, allowing flexible configuration as multiple libraries.
Exabyte's design simplicity makes the Magnum 448 field-installable and upgradeable. LTO drives and cartridge magazines are customer-replaceable and can be easily exchanged, or extra drives can be added, in a matter of minutes while the unit is still in the rack. Tapes can be easily inserted or removed through the two Import/Export doors without removing an entire 12-cartridge magazine.
Pricing and Availability
The Magnum 448 LTO Tape Library is available for purchase from Exabyte resellers beginning September 1. Pricing starts at $7,950 for the base configuration with four magazines for 48 cartridges and a single LTO-2 half-height drive. A similar configuration with four magazines and one LTO-3 full-height SCSI drive is available for $9,950, or with one LTO-3 FH FC drive for $11,500. Additional 12-cartridge magazines will be available for $350 (estimated U.S. street prices).
The Magnum 448 is protected by a standard 1-year warranty and 5x9, next business day on-site service (OSS). An optional 2-year warranty and OSS service extension is available for $700 (estimated U.S. street price).
About Exabyte Corporation
Exabyte Corporation is the leading innovator and provider of tape storage products. For more than 20 years, the company has raised industry standards in engineering quality for tape drives and tape automation. Exabyte's groundbreaking VXA Packet technology is the capacity, speed, reliability, and value leader in small-to-midsize business tape storage and tape automation solutions. With patented and award-winning VXA Packet Technology and ExaBotics, Exabyte's VXA(TM) and LTO products are ideally suited for SMB and departmental servers, workstations, LANs, and SANs. Exabyte has a worldwide network of OEM, distributor and reseller partners that share the company's commitment to innovation and customer service, including IBM, Apple, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Fujitsu Ltd., Imation, Tech Data, and Ingram Micro. The company is also a founding member of the VXA Alliance, an industry group focused on providing information and education to the marketplace on the benefits of the VXA Packet tape format. For more information, call 1-800-EXABYTE or visit www.exabyte.com.
(a) Data capacities and transfer rates assume a compression ratio of 2:1. Actual compression varies depending on the nature of the data and the drive and media quality.
Exabyte and VXA are registered trademarks, and ExaBotics is a trademark of Exabyte Corp. Others may be trademarks or trade names of their respective owners.
