STORAGE

When it comes to enterprise computing environments, seamless hardware connectivity is a key requirement for optimizing the power and value of IT infrastructures. That's why so many customers look to StorageTek to help them make the right connections. StorageTek, the data storage solutions expert, today announced its advanced 'fast access' T9840C tape drive equipped with a native FICON interface for seamless connectivity and high performance tape storage in MVS environments. With the addition of the dual port FICON interface to the currently available ESCON and Fibre Channel interfaces, StorageTek continues its history of being the only supplier of native FICON and ESCON enterprise class tape drives for IBM zSeries environments. "Our information lifecycle management (ILM) strategy is singularly focused on helping our customers manage exponential data growth while lowering costs and enhancing the efficiency of their overall storage operations," said Jon Benson, vice president and general manager, Automated Tape Solutions, StorageTek. "The T9840C with native FICON connectivity is the most cost-effective solution for storing critical data and providing rapid data accessibility in z/OS (MVS) environments, effectively bridging the cost and performance gap between tape storage and high-priced disk solutions. We anticipate that many existing T9840 drive customers will move quickly to this new offering to take advantage of the higher speed and capacity with their current T9840 media." To help protect their media investments, customers moving from T9840 ESCON drives or T9840B FICON drives will have complete media compatibility when utilizing the T9840C FICON. StorageTek will deliver native FICON connectivity for the T9840C's sister drive, the high capacity T9940B, later in 2004. StorageTek's T9840C features an industry-leading 12-second average data access time, 30 MB/second data throughput for faster backup and restores, and 40 GB/cartridge capacity (uncompressed) - all while maintaining the customer's existing investment in T9840 media. The T9840C also features StorageTek's proprietary VolSafe™ advanced WORM (Write-Once-Read-Many) technology designed to support today's stringent electronic data storage regulatory mandates. A perfect complement to StorageTek's world class ILM solutions, including its enterprise tape libraries and Streamline SL8500 modular library system, the T9840C can be employed as part of an overall tape storage solution that delivers unparalleled value, performance and protection. "Enterprise MVS customers place a high value on quick data throughput and access speeds, long distance connectivity and reliability," noted Fara Yale, research vice president, at Gartner. "With the challenges that enterprise customers face, upgrading to FICON connectivity makes sense. MVS customers transitioning from ESCON to FICON connectivity stand to double their throughput and gain 10 times more cabling distances for applications such as disaster recovery/business continuity or data transmission to offsite data centers." For more information on StorageTek's T-Series™ tape drives, visit http://www.storagetek.com/products/tape_storage/tape_drives.html