New Standard DVD-R Format Can Be Read by DVD-RAM Drives Creating Lower Cost Read/Write Solution for Companies That Require WORM Technology (Write Once Read Many)
Plasmon has announced second-quarter shipping for its newly enhanced D-Series libraries that can incorporate both DVD-Recorders and DVD-RAM drives in a single unit with a new media rotation mechanism that doubles the capacity of the media.
Targeted at business, financial and government institutions that require a combination of write once data protection with the high capacity for archiving and distribution applications, the new D-Series libraries will be priced starting at $14,995. This entry-level configuration includes one DVD-Recorder, one DVD-RAM drive and 120 slots, while a high-end, six-drive DVD-R unit with 480 slots is priced at $54,995. Plasmon prices include the SCSI interface, disc magazines and disc import-export mail slot.
The new Plasmon patented robotic media Rotation Station(TM) mechanism allows access of double-sided media increase the 4.7 GB DVD-R and DVD-RAM media to 9.4 GB per disc. Both the drives and robotics combine to extend D-Series capacity to move than 4.1 terabytes.
Previously DVD-R was used primarily for DVD authoring such as movie and software titles. Recently the DVD-Forum, the industry body governing DVD formats, approved the General Purpose format. As a result, the new standardized product specifications use the same laser wavelength as DVD-RAM and DVD-ROM, which allows the DVD-Recordable media to be read by DVD-RAM and DVD-ROM drives. The new format ultimately lowers the cost of the recorders while increasing capabilities.
``Plasmon customers will be able to take full advantage of these new DVD developments while preserving backward compatibility with legacy data, as well as data interchange between different vendors and operating systems,'' said Kelly Scharf, director of product marketing.
All drives are fully SCSI-enabled, which allows multiple concurrent operation without the limitations created when ATAPI drives are used in an automated environment. Coupled with the ``designed-in'' SCSI robotics control system, customers receive greater performance and the ability to communicate with the drives across the SCSI bus through the jukebox control system.
In addition, new 4.7 GB DVD-RAM drives are now fully integrated with the 120 mm format D-Series libraries, which almost doubles previous jukebox capacities for only a small incremental cost. Besides the increased capacities, new generation drives feature improved data transfer rates and access times, which makes this technology even more attractive for fast, secondary storage. Because these drives can be mixed with DVD-R in the same jukebox customers receive greater flexibility with lower overall costs to meet a broader range of storage and application requirements.
The addition of extra drives is independent of the capacity, unlike many other jukeboxes where the addition of each drive reduces the capacity by up to 70 GB.