To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu.

    -----------------------------------------------

     This story was printed from CdrInfo.com,

     located at http://www.cdrinfo.com.

    -----------------------------------------------

Quantum Corp. (NYSE:DSS), a global leader in data protection, announced the availability of the “MAKO” PX720, an enterprise tape library specifically designed to address backup and archive operations more reliably, while minimizing customer costs now and in years to come. Built from five generations of Quantum enterprise experience in tape automation technology, MAKO provides management and redundancy features at no extra cost to increase reliability and shrink down-time. Additionally, MAKO affords customers the ability to pay only for the storage they need when they need it through Performance on Demand (PoD), thereby reducing upfront outlays and over-provisioning. Expanding Quantum’s industry-leading family of PX-Series enterprise libraries, a single MAKO frame can scale up to 20 DLTtape™ or LTO Ultrium drives and up to 732 slots.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult for enterprise IT managers to keep up with today’s challenging data backup and recovery issues,” said Nancy Marrone-Hurley, senior analyst for Enterprise Storage Group. “New applications, regulations and legislation mandate that companies back up, protect and have easy access to more data than ever before. Quantum’s MAKO PX720 system ensures that enterprise data is protected, available and accessible and all at a lower cost. And what’s more, MAKO’s interoperability makes it a solution that can be easily incorporated into an enterprise’s existing infrastructure.”

Customer-Driven Design and Benefits

Reliability – An industry first, every MAKO system is equipped standard with redundant cooling and power systems at no additional charge, so there is no need to sacrifice design for price or performance. Moreover, advanced library management software is also provided at no additional cost and performs enhanced component-level system monitoring to address potential failures before they occur. Lastly, the enhanced robotics are engineered to reliably execute more than three million swaps before failure – an industry best.

Flexibility – Customers can add or upgrade options to modify the library for changing environments. Utilizing half a decade of innovative design in connectivity, MAKO offers a comprehensive range of connectivity options including SCSI, Bridged FC, Native FC and Gigabit Ethernet. MAKO automates market-leading half-inch, high performance linear tape drives to meet customers’ needs and will support both DLTtape and LTO Ultrium tape technologies, including SDLT 320, LTO-2 and the soon to be available SDLT 600 drives. With library partitioning, MAKO can consolidate several backup environments into one library, simplifying backup management and providing cost savings to the customer. MAKO can be configured to appear as multiple smaller libraries to consolidate diverse departmental backup environments into a single tape library.

“On-Demand” Growth – MAKO’s performance and capacity is easily configured to meet any customer requirements today and in the future if or when requirements change. Unique to Quantum and MAKO are PoDs which enable customers to increase library performance as needed by adding modular drive clusters containing up to four tape drives, redundant fans and power with failover capabilities and built in management. Additionally, Capacity on Demand (CoD) is also available to support growth of library capacity without unnecessary up-front investment. When requirements grow to exceed the capacity of a single MAKO frame, the CrossLink™ mechanism allows the library to expand up to five linked MAKO frames that are centrally managed to support up to 100 tape drives and up to 3,660 LTO-2 tapes for a total capacity of 732 TB (native).

“The MAKO tape library is the deliberate result of a comprehensive survey of OEMs, resellers and end-users regarding the functionality they want and need from an enterprise tape library. MAKO is specifically designed to address the resulting mix of requirements, such as reliability and flexibility, while providing unparalleled value to our customers,” said Larry Orecklin, president of Quantum’s Storage Solutions Group. “With the addition of MAKO to our existing PX-Series family of tape libraries, Quantum now offers the most extensive enterprise-oriented product line in the business.”

Built the Way the Channel Wants to Sell With MAKO’s management and redundancy features included at no cost and its ease of connectivity into existing environments, value-added resellers (VARs) and other channel partners now have a system that is engineered to be easy to sell and configure as the perfect complement to their consulting and integration services. Coupled with the newly announced Quantum Marketplace, an easy-to-use Web-based sales assistance and ordering tool, it has never been easier for channel partners to sell and configure MAKO and other Quantum data storage products (please reference the press release also dated Sept. 29, 2003, “Quantum’s New Web-based Sales Tool Makes it Easy for Channel Partners to Correctly Configure Solutions While Saving Time and Money”).

“At ASG, our mission is to provide infrastructure architectures that are designed from core hardware and software technologies to solve real business problems for our customers,” said Mark Teter, chief technology officer for Advanced Systems Group. "MAKO is an ideal tape platform for our customers that require enterprise-wide, high-speed backup and recovery performance. MAKO provides them a data protection solution that meets their present and future capacity and connectivity needs. A major benefit with MAKO is the balanced drive approach and its interoperability with leading software programs that enable it to adapt seamlessly into existing network infrastructures."

A typical enterprise configuration will include eight drives, 718 slots, native Fibre Channel connectivity, redundant power and cabling, library management and training for $223,050 MSRP. Base configurations will start below $93,000 MSRP. MAKO will be available through Quantum's channel network of value-added resellers (VARs) in the fourth calendar quarter of 2003 and include installation services and one full year of on-site service and support through Quantum’s StorageCare™ services program.