Tape Drives: Overview€¦ · Technology Overview 27 August 2003 Tape Drives: Overview Summary With the wide variety of formats and technologies available today, tape drives continue

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DPRO-90152Fara Yale, April Adams

Technology Overview27 August 2003

Tape Drives: Overview

Summary

With the wide variety of formats and technologies available today, tape drives continue to be thetechnology of choice for backing up and archiving data, delivering the lowest cost per megabyte stored.

Table of Contents

Technology Basics

Linear Technologies

Helical Scan Technologies

Tape Automation Products

Technology Analysis

Business Use

Technology Leaders

Recommended Gartner Research

Insight


© 2003 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved.DPRO-9015227 August 2003 2

Technology Basics

Mainstream tape technologies are aligned within two camps—linear recording and helical scan recording.The debate over which technology is better suited to safeguard an organization’s valuable data assetsusually centers on reliability, compatibility, capacity and performance. When at odds in competitivesituations, each technology claims advantages over the other in each of these critical metrics when in factboth technologies are well suited to meet the requirements of a majority of computing environments.

Linear Technologies

Linear tape recording technology has been in use since the early stages of computing. It was initially usedas a primary data storage medium as an extension of central processor memory. As storage requirementschanged, however, it was replaced in this role by hard disk drives (HDDs), which provided the advantageof random access capability. Applications for tape in the computer world then evolved to encompass databackup, data archiving and data interchange or distribution, and the role of tape drives and tape mediatransitioned to that of secondary storage. Over the years, linear tape technology has evolved in all keyareas—capacity, performance and reliability—and drives based on linear recording remain the leadingsecondary storage device for today’s computing environments. There are several tape technologies thatfall into the linear technology category: quarter-inch data cartridge, minicartridge, DLTtape, SuperDLTtape, Linear Tape-Open and high-end half-inch cartridge technologies, such as StorageTek’s 9840and 9940 and IBM’s Magstar. Each one is discussed separately below.

Quarter-Inch Cartridge

Quarter-inch tape technology was introduced more than 25 years ago, and although market share hasdeclined in favor of new formats that yield higher capacity and performance, quarter-inch drives stillaccount for a large installed base of primarily smaller networked and stand-alone environments. Thetechnology has evolved into higher-capacity implementations, and it has established standards forbackward compatibility that have contributed significantly to its long life.

Quarter-inch data cartridge tape drives use media that is 0.25-inch or 0.315-inch wide and comes invarious lengths. The widening and lengthening of the tape were developments that contributed to movingthe technology to new capacities. Data is recorded in a linear serpentine fashion on tracks that areparallel to the edge of the tape. Each 1/4-inch tape cartridge contains two reels, one for tape supply andthe other for tape take-up. The tape guides and the tape path are also internal to the removable cartridge.

Tandberg Data became the sole drive manufacturer in this segment in 1999 with its Scalable LinearRecording (SLR) technology, which the company (in partnership with Imation), continues to develop.Tandberg sees its SLR series as positioned in the entry-level and small-to-medium business segment andscaling into the midrange multiuser segment of the market. With the introduction of the SLR100 inNovember 1999, Tandberg Data laid the foundation for its third generation of SLR tape technology. Thenewer drives—the SLR7, SLR60 and SLR100—share a common mechanical platform, the same firmwareand the same method of encoding and decoding data. This allows SLR technology to scale in capacityand performance while maintaining backward compatibility and reducing product cost. Other details onthe three drives’ common and differentiating features include:

• Read Channel—The SLR7, SLR60 and SLR100 drives use a Partial Response Maximum Likelihood(PRML) channel encoding technology which was developed by Overland Storage (formerly OverlandData). Tandberg and Overland announced a cross-licensing agreement in April 1998 that madeTandberg the first company to license Overland’s Variable Rate Randomizer (VR2). VR2 is a PRML



data-encoding/decoding technology developed specifically for linear tape drives. It is designed toincrease the capacity and performance of a product or technology by a factor of 1.5 to two times.Other companies will also implement this technology.

• Multichannel Thin-Film Magneto-Resistive Head (TFMR)—The SLR100 and SLR60 both use a six-channel TFMR head. The SLR7 supports a two-channel TFMR head that writes two tracks at a time.The use of TFMR head technology, coupled with VR2 encoding techniques, doubles the tapecapacity when compared with previous-generation SLR drives.

• Dedicated Servo Tracking—The SLR100 and SLR60 utilize a servo-based track-following system.The dynamic real-time servo tracking is designed to allow the drive to reliably record and recoverdata at high-track densities. The SLR7 uses prerecorded reference bursts for head alignment insteadof the dedicated servo tracks used on the SLR60 and SLR100. The SLR60 and SLR100 record on192 data tracks, and an additional 24 tracks are used for servo positioning. The SLR7 records on 72tracks and uses 18 reference bursts for head alignment.

• Auto-Sensing Variable Data Transfer Rate—The SLR100 and SLR60 support an auto-sensingfeature that assists in performance optimization. This auto-sense feature automatically adjusts thedrive’s data transfer rate from the host to the drive’s buffer. Optimizing the transfer rate helps to keepthe drive’s data buffer full and keeps the tape moving at a constant speed, thus minimizing thenumber of times that the drive must stop and reposition itself before resuming read/write operations.In those instances when the data transfer speed from the host does fall below the minimum transferrate for the drive, the drive will empty its buffer while quickly repositioning itself at the same time so itis ready to resume write operations once the host fills the drive’s buffer.

• In-Line Data Compression—Data compression technology used in Tandberg’s SLR drives is basedon the Adaptive Lossless Data Compression (ALDC) algorithm. The SLR100, SLR60 and SLR7 allsupport an updated compression scheme called in-line hardware data compression, which allowsdata to be compressed before entering the drive’s 8MB buffer, thereby minimizing backup andrestore times. By using a separate data compression path, 100 percent of the drive’s buffer can beused for storing data prior to it being written to tape.

These core technologies give SLR technology the ability to cover a broad range of backup requirementsand price points using reliable and cost-effective technology, including the potential in the future todevelop SLR drives with native capacities reaching 200GB. Tandberg specifies a 2:1 compression ratiofor its SLR tape drives. Native capacities of the SLR100, SLR60 and SLR7 drives are 50GB, 30GB and20GB respectively. Native data transfer rates are 5 MB/sec, 4 MB/sec and 3 MB/sec respectively.Tandberg also offers an entry-level SLR product line—the SLR3, SLR4 and SLR5—which are targeted atlow-end workstations. They support native capacities of 1.2GB, 2.5GB and 4GB respectively and nativedata transfer rates of 380 KB/sec, 300 KB/sec and 300 KB/sec respectively.

Minicartridge

Drives in this category are based primarily on Imation’s Travan technology. Imation Corporation (whichwas then part of 3M) introduced Travan in 1995 and currently partners with Certance (formerly SeagateRemovable Storage Solutions [RSS]) to develop drives based on this technology. Drives based onOnStream Data’s Advanced Digital Recording (ADR) technology were previously included in thiscategory. However, after coming back from bankruptcy in May of 2001 as OnStream Data B.V., thecompany filed for bankruptcy a second time on 28 April 2003. OnStream has not been successful inobtaining new financing, and its operations both in Europe and in the United States have been closed



down. Because this report focuses on drives and technologies that are currently being shipped, ADR is nolonger included in the report.

Travan Technology

Travan technology, which was introduced in December 1994, is based on linear recording technology andis closely related to quarter-inch data cartridge technology. Its design leveraged proven minicartridgetechnology and maintained backward compatibility with the installed base of drives. It did, however,represent a major advancement in the technology because it was based on a unique drive/cartridgeinterface developed by 3M. At the heart of the new technology was a different shaped cartridge designedto optimize the amount of tape area for cartridges that can fit in a 3.5-inch form factor tape drive. Data isrecorded along the length of the tape with a static read/write head, and drives use single-channelrecording and a simple tape path with only two moving parts in the drive. Unique to Travan drives is thetrack-positioning system with prerecorded servo patterns at both ends of the tape. Through accurateelectronic servo signal detection and digital signal processing, the track-positioning algorithm positions thehead to the optimal location relative to the data tracks on the tape. When the read/write head is correctlypositioned at the beginning of the tape, it is locked into position. A precision tape guidance system builtinto the Travan data cartridge prevents the tape from wandering.

In March 2002 Certance and Imation announced the availability of a new family of sixth-generation Travandrives and media, called Travan 40. This new generation of Travan extended the native storage capacityto 20GB with a native data transfer rate of 2 MB/sec while maintaining backward read compatibility withthe 10GB native capacity, 1 MB/sec native data transfer rate Travan 20 (TR-5) drives. Travan drives arespecified with a 2:1 compression ratio. To keep drive costs as low as possible, most Travan products usesoftware-based compression, in lieu of compression that is implemented in hardware.

The Travan 40 uses Seagate’s FastSense technology, which adjusts the speed of the tape drive to matchsystem throughput. FastSense is designed to keep the tape in a streaming mode of operation, helping tooptimize backup times. A number of other design enhancements were also added to the Travan 40,including a steel frame for improved durability, a soft-load mechanism to reduce normal wear and tear,and a thermal monitor that activates firmware throttle-down features when drive temperatures reachpredetermined levels. A PRML, VR2 data channel was also incorporated to enable higher recordingdensities, and a park feature that ensures the alignment of recording tracks if a write operation issuspended was added.

Certance also continues to ship its previous generation Travan 20 tape drives (based on the TR-5 format)which has a native capacity of 10GB and a native data transfer rate of 1 MB/sec. Drives based on Travantechnology are primarily targeted for backup of single-user PCs or workstations and entry-level servers.

DLTtape

The beginnings of DLTtape date back to 1985 with a half-inch cartridge tape technology that DigitalEquipment called CompacTape. CompacTape was a proprietary recording format that recorded data in aserpentine fashion on 0.5-inch-wide tape. The first product of this type from Digital was the 95MB TK50drive, which was announced in 1985. The major technological advancement for this tape technologycame in March 1991 with Digital’s introduction of the TF85 line of products, which increased the nativecapacity to 2.6GB. While still owned by Digital, this technology advanced to 10GB (native) and 1.25MB/sec (native) and then to 20GB and 1.5 MB/sec (both native). Digital coined the name “DLT,” which atone time stood for Digital Linear Tape. Quantum acquired the technology from Digital in 1994, when itclosed a deal with Digital to buy its magnetic disk drive, tape drive, solid-state disk drive and thin-filmrecording head operations. Because of the difficulties in trademarking something as generic as Digital



Linear Tape, Quantum later changed the name of the technology to DLTtape, and the DLT in the name isno longer an acronym for digital linear tape.

In September 1998, Quantum and Tandberg Data entered into a strategic manufacturing license andmarketing agreement that made Tandberg Data an independent second source for DLTtape drives underthe Tandberg Data brand name. Tandberg does not, however, have a license to develop drives based onDLTtape technology. In October 2001, Tandberg extended its manufacturing and marketing agreementwith Quantum Corporation, with one caveat. This latest agreement allows Tandberg to sell DLTtape andSuper DLTtape (SDLT) drives to distributors and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that areheadquartered in Europe, Asia/Pacific and Japan only, while the U.S. and Latin American markets are leftto Quantum. Through the end of 2002, Tandberg manufactured most of the DLTtape drives that it sold.However as part of its actions to reduce operating expenses, Quantum announced plans in September2002 to outsource its tape drive manufacturing to Jabil Circuit. Beginning in 2003, Tandberg is no longermanufacturing the DLTtape or SDLT tape drives that it is selling under the Tandberg brand. Instead,Tandberg is purchasing the drives that are manufactured by Jabil from Quantum.

DLTtape products use a single-reel design whereby the tape cartridge contains the supply reel and thecorresponding take-up reel is located in the tape drive. Loading the tape is accomplished by attaching aleader to the end of the tape and using that to pull the tape out of the cartridge, around the tape path, pasta stationary read/write head and onto the take-up reel.

Today, Quantum sells a DLT 8000 product that scales up to 40GB native and has a native data transferrate of 6 MB/sec. (Quantum specifies a 2:1 data compression ratio for its DLTtape and SDLT tape drives.)Its two previous models, the DLT 4000 and the DLT 7000, have been discontinued.

Quantum also acquired Benchmark Storage Innovations in November 2002, a company that it licensedtechnology to in 1998 and in which it owned a minority share. In early 1996, Quantum began developmentof a Valueline series of its DLTtape products. Its intent was to develop lower-cost drives that would enableit to expand the market for its DLTtape technology by moving it into markets in which 4mm Digital DataStorage (DDS) and quarter-inch data cartridge drives were dominant; however, in the following years,Quantum recognized that it had to focus its research and development (R&D) resources on thedevelopment of its first-generation SDLT products. As time moved on, it became clear that by the time theValueline drive could be brought to market, the original design would no longer provide it with thespecifications that would allow it to become a competitive force in the market. Therefore, in early 1998Quantum licensed certain patents and technology to Benchmark (founded in May 1998). Included in theagreement was the transfer to Benchmark of product designs, product hardware and software, andmanufacturing tools.

In return for the technology license, Quantum retained a 20 percent minority ownership position inBenchmark. The Quantum Valueline technology formed the base for the tape drives that Benchmarkwould bring to market; however, Benchmark enhanced and built on this technology by incorporating atwo-channel magnetoresistive recording head, a soft-unload capability to make it more automation-friendly and a tape path that was different from Quantum’s other tape drives. Other enhancements to theoriginal technology included TapeSense circuitry, which is a firmware capability intended to detectwhether engagement of the tape leader has properly taken place when a cartridge is inserted into thedrive. Benchmark focused on lowering the product cost of its drives through a low parts count andsimplicity of design, and the company introduced its first tape drive, called DLT1, in September 1999.

In its four-year existence, Benchmark’s engineers brought out three tape drive products. Benchmark’s firsttape drive, the DLT1, was about two-thirds of the height of a full-high, 5.25-inch drive, had a nativecapacity of 40GB and a native data transfer rate of 3 MB/sec. The company subsequently launched a



half-high version of this drive in April 2001 with the same capacity and data transfer rates as the DLT1.This drive was called the ValuSmart Tape 80, and with its introduction, the company introduced theValuSmart (VS) name as its new brand.

Benchmark’s third tape drive, the ValuSmart Tape 160, was announced in June 2002. Still with a half-highform factor, the VS160 doubled the capacity of the previous drive to 80GB native, and the data transferrate was more than doubled to 8 MB/sec native. The DLT1 drive and VS80 drive use the same DLTtapeIV media that is used with the Quantum DLT 4000 and DLT 7000/8000 drives, but in conjunction with theVS160 introduction, Benchmark introduced its own tape media, which it co-developed with Sony.

In September 2002, Quantum announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Benchmark.The deal closed on 13 November 2002, and under the terms of the agreement, Quantum acquired all ofBenchmark including its tape drive and tape media products. These are now being integrated withQuantum’s DLTtape Group. The Benchmark tape drive products have been integrated into Quantum’sDLTtape Group product line. Its autoloader product was integrated into Quantum’s Storage SolutionsGroup (SSG) product line. The ValuSmart Tape 80 and ValuSmart Tape 160 are now called the DLTVS80 and DLT VS160. As part of Quantum’s strategy in acquiring Benchmark, these drives will fill out thelow-end of Quantum’s product line (below SDLT) and become the replacements for the DLT 4000, DLT7000 and DLT 8000 drives.

SDLT

The latest incarnation of DLTtape, called Super DLTtape or SDLT, was designed around an entirely newtape architecture, which became the base for future generations of high-end DLTtape products. Thenucleus for the SDLT platform is Laser Guided Magnetic-Recording (LGMR) technology. LGMR isQuantum’s solution for increasing track densities and recording densities, which in turn equates to higherstorage capacities. Several elements, including both optical and magnetic technologies, coalesce to makeLGMR what it is and make it the foundation for increasing capacity and performance on futuregenerations of DLTtape. This technology consists of four elements.

• Magneto-Resistive Cluster (MRC) Heads—MRC heads are a group of small magneto-resistive headsthat are densely packed together to form a cluster and are held in position using thin-film processingtechnology. Because the read and write heads are closer together, the clusters are smaller than theheads used on previous DLTtape products. Because the MRC head cannot read the formats writtenby a DLT 4000, DLT 7000 or DLT 8000 drive, a separate ferrite Metal In Gap (MIG) head andactuator is also incorporated on the drives to provide backward-read compatibility.

• Pivoting Optical Servo (POS)—With POS, SDLT’s servo system, Quantum came up with a scheme toutilize the unused side of the media for the servo information. Laser-etched, optically read servotracks, which are indelible, are placed on the back side of the tape, leaving the other side of the tapefree for recording of data. As the tape media moves through the POS, the laser optics follow theservo tracks on the back of the media, tracking the embedded optical targets. The POS assemblypivots around a single mounting point to keep the read/write heads on the recording side of the mediaaligned with the optical servo tracks when reading from or writing to the tape. This method alsoallows SDLT media to be magnetically erased without losing the embedded servo tracks.

• Advanced PRML—Jointly developed for SDLT by Quantum and Lucent Technologies, this PRMLchannel provides a high-level encoding scheme (32/33) which is 97 percent efficient.

• SDLT Media and Cartridge—The SDLT drives use Advanced Metal Powder (AMP) media. It is amulticoated Metal Particle (MP) media, and the back side of the media has a special back-coatingthat allows the optical servo tracks to be located there. The optical servo is burnished into the media



at the media manufacturer’s factory. Quantum believes this gives it a data capacity advantagebecause the entire front side of the tape remains available for data tracks. The company replaced theleader latching mechanism, previously used on the DLTtape line, with a new design called thePositive Buckle Link. The Positive Buckle Link uses a solid metal pin attached to the drive leader thatlinks with molded clips that are permanently attached to the tape leader inside the cartridge. Themetal shield protects the buckling mechanism from striking the head during the load process. When acartridge is loaded, this pin “snaps” into the drive leader link. Sensors have been added to preventmissed latching, and firmware changes were made to better control the take-up speed of the tape.The new buckling mechanism also has a mushroom tip on the leader to support and providebackward-compatibility for existing DLTtape IV cartridges.

The first SDLT drive, the SDLT 220, has a native capacity of 110GB and a native transfer rate of 11MB/sec. Quantum specifies a 2:1 data compression ratio for the SDLT drives. Quantum initially came outwith a nonbackward read (NBRC) model of the SDLT 220 in the fourth quarter of 2000. A backward read-compatible model began shipping in March 2001, and the NBRC drive was discontinued within monthsafter that due to lack of demand. Quantum’s follow-on product to the SDLT 220, the SDLT 320, wasreleased in June 2002, taking SDLT technology to the next level on Quantum’s SDLT product road map. Itfeatures a native capacity of 160GB and a native transfer rate of 16 MB/sec. The SDLT 320 is backwardread and write compatible with the SDLT 220, and it can read the DLTtape IV cartridges written by theolder DLTtape, DLT1 and DLT VS80, as well as cartridges used with the DLT VS160 drives. (The SDLT220 is also backward read compatible with the drives that were developed by Benchmark.). The SDLT320 uses the same tape media as the SDLT 220 drive. It achieves its higher capacity over the SDLT 220primarily through an increase in the number of tracks recorded on the tape, which yields a higherrecording bit density. The buffer size of the SDLT 320 was also increased to 64MB from 32MB on theSDLT 220.

Linear Tape-Open (LTO)

Linear Tape-Open (LTO) is an open tape architecture that was developed jointly by three vendors, IBM,Hewlett-Packard and Certance (formerly Seagate RSS). Within the LTO Program, these three are knownas the Technology Provider Companies (TPCs). LTO originally consisted of two specifications: Ultrium,which was targeted for capacity-intensive applications, and Accelis, which was designed for access-intensive applications. However, since no manufacturer committed to develop an Accelis-based product,the Accelis format has essentially been shelved.

In contrast, the development of drives conforming to the Ultrium specification was pursued by each of thethree TPCs. The first-generation LTO Ultrium drives all provide a native capacity of 100GB and a 2:1 datacompression ratio. The native transfer rate for the IBM and HP drives is 15 MB/sec, and the nativetransfer rate of Certance’s LTO-1 drive is 16 MB/sec. Data is written on 384 data tracks across the half-inch wide tape. Ultrium uses half-inch-wide MP tape, a multichannel and bidirectional format using a linearserpentine recording method, magneto-resistive (MR) head technology and a magnetic servo. Thistechnology uses a single-reel tape cartridge, with the take-up reel located inside the drive. The tape isengaged via a coupler that “grabs” a leader pin at the start of the tape and guides it around the tape headto the take-up reel in the drive. After the leader pin is secured in the take-up reel, the reel rotates and pullsthe tape through the tape path. The cartridge is similar in shape to Quantum’s DLTtape cartridge or anIBM 3480/90 or 3590 cartridge; however, the cartridge is slightly thinner than a DLTtape cartridge.

Licenses for the second-generation Ultrium format were made available in April 2002, and the first drivebased on Ultrium 2 became generally available from Hewlett-Packard in November 2002. IBM followedwith an announcement of its second-generation Ultrium drive on 28 January 2003, though the drive did



not become generally available until 14 February 2003. To date, the third TPC, Certance, has notreleased its second-generation Ultrium drive.

The second-generation Ultrium specification calls for a native capacity of 200GB (using new MP++ media)and a native data transfer rate in the 20 MB/sec to 40 MB/sec range. As with the first-generation LTOdrives, the second-generation drives will use a 2:1 data compression ratio. The Generation 2 LTO Ultriumdrives still use an eight-channel method of recording. The higher capacity is achieved through the use ofthe higher coercivity media, an increase in the number of data tracks from 384 to 512 and byimplementing a PRML read channel that allows the bit density to be increased by more than 50 percent ofthe Generation 1 LTO drives. The Generation 2 drives use media that is the same length as theGeneration 1 media, but the drives have a faster average tape speed. Generation 2 Ultrium drives canread from and write to a Generation 1 cartridge in Generation 1 format, as well as to Generation 2cartridges in Generation 2 format. HP’s Generation 2 LTO Ultrium drive, the StorageWorks Ultrium 460,has a native capacity of 200GB, like all Ultrium 2 drives. Its native data transfer rate is 30 MB/sec. IBM’ssecond-generation Ultrium drive, the 3580 Ultrium 2, supports up to 200GB of native capacity and a 35MB/sec native data transfer rate.

Other features common to all LTO Ultrium drives are:

• Recording Format—LTO uses a technique called Timing-Based Servo (TBS), in which electronicsignals are generated through the real-time reading of servo data bands that are prerecorded on thetape. The signals enable the servo system to dynamically control the positioning of the read/writeheads across the width of the tape. The prerecorded servo bands are positioned on the tape parallelto each side of the data bands. Once a data band is filled, the head is aligned on the next prescribedpair of servo bands and begins to write data in that band. The servo bands contain special offsets toensure that the head is on the correct data band for reading or writing. Reading of a tape occurs inthe same way that data are written—eight tracks are read simultaneously on each pass down thelength of the tape.

• LTO Cartridge Memory (LTO-CM)—All Ultrium tape drives come with LTO Cartridge Memory (LTO-CM), a radio frequency (RF)-based feature that allows certain kinds of data to be stored on a chiprather than in the first region of the tape. As a result, the information is accessible as soon as thecartridge is loaded into the drive rather than when the tape is actually threaded past the read/writehead. The types of data that can be stored in LTO-CM include information on the tape contents (suchas file location data), information from the tape manufacturer (such as serial number, manufacturer IDnumber and maximum tape speed) and information from the tape drive manufacturer (such aspredictive failure analysis data and information on drive/media health). In all cases, the chip is locatedin the rear of the Ultrium data or cleaning cartridge where it can be easily read through an RFinterface by either a stand-alone drive or possibly in the future by a reader located on the robotics ofa tape library. Data in the LTO-CM is protected with parity and Cyclical Redundancy Check (CRC).

• Interchangeability of Media—Because of the open specification, all Ultrium drives support anyUltrium-certified media cartridge regardless of manufacturer. In April 2002, the three TPCs alsoannounced the availability of new “universal” cleaning cartridges for the Generation 1 and Generation2 LTO Ultrium drives. The universal cleaning cartridges allow end users to purchase a single cleaningcartridge for use with any first-or second-generation Ultrium drive regardless of the manufacturer.

• Error Correction Codes (ECCs)—The Ultrium format uses ECCs, which are based on two levels ofReed Solomon ECC. The Ultrium ECC is designed to correct most cross-track errors and providedata correction even if a full track is lost. A method of demarcation is used to prevent writing to a bador defective area of the tape.



Although several of the features of LTO have a base in proven technologies used by other tape formats,the LTO Ultrium format was developed from scratch, with no requirements for backward compatibility. Butwhile the specification is designed to ensure interoperability, it does not mandate such things as driveform factor, drive interface, power consumption, reliability standards, specific data transfer rates, tapespeed or specific tape path designs. Each drive/media manufacturer is therefore able to determine how tomeet the specification requirements on its own, thus allowing for design ingenuity and competitivedifferentiation.

For more information on LTO Technology, see LTO Tape Technology Overview.

Half-Inch Cartridge

IBM 3480/3490/3490E

Beginning with the early reel-to-reel tape drive, IBM was responsible for several of the half-inch tapetechnologies that developed into de facto standards within enterprise data centers. Throughout the longlife of half-inch reel technology and 3480/3490 technology, IBM’s introduction of a new tape format or anenhancement to an existing format was followed 12 to 18 months later by the introduction of drives withthe same format by Plug-Compatible Manufacturers (PCMs), such as StorageTek, Hitachi and Fujitsu.Introduced as a successor to the 3420, nine-track half-inch reel drives, IBM’s 3480 tape driverevolutionized data center storage in its time with its use of half-inch media contained within a four-inchsquare cartridge. The change from large tape reels to tape cartridges was the enabling technology thatset the stage for the development of modern-day automated backup devices, such as libraries andautoloaders. The 3480 cartridge was used in the early development of tape automation robotics, and itsform factor remains the standard for high-end enterprise tape storage today.

The first 3480 tape drive was introduced in 1984, with a storage capacity of 200MB using 18-trackrecording and a 3 MB/sec data transfer rate. Five years later, IBM introduced the 3490 tape drive, addingImproved Data Recording Capability (IDRC) data compaction, which effectively doubled the capacity withno increase in the number of tracks. In February 1991, the track density for 3490 drives was doubled to36 tracks with the introduction of the 3490E, bringing the native storage capacity to 400MB. A bidirectionalrecording format, called Enhanced Capability recording, was also introduced for these drives. This wasfollowed in September 1991 by the announcement of support for an enhanced-capacity cartridge—acartridge with a media length of 1,100 feet. The longer-length media doubled the capacity a second timeto a native capacity of 800MB; however, these drives were designed to also still support the standardlength media. The 3480, 3490 and 3490E all use the same physical size cartridge and each generationprovided backward compatibility to prior generations. Several manufacturers also developed lower-cost,smaller form factor versions of 3480/3490/3490E-compatible drives. These drives were typically designedfor use in open systems environments and for mounting in a rack cabinet or on a tabletop.

IBM 3590B/3590E/3590H

In an announcement that was made 11 years after the original announcement of the 18-track 3480 half-inch cartridge technology, IBM announced, in April 1995, a breakthrough in its longitudinal tape recordingtechnology for mainframe drives with the Magstar 3590 Tape Drive. Magstar was designed by IBM to bethe long-term market replacement for the 3480/3490/3490E product families. The Magstar 3590 drive wasa revolutionary step for mainframe tape, not only because of the increased capacity it offered over 3490Edrives, but also because it did not provide for backward-compatibility with cartridges written on 3480/3490or 3490E drives. With 3480/3490 tape, and with half-inch reel technology before that, mainframe tape wasone segment of the market where standards were a bastion and where all formats had to beinterchangeable. The tradition of other mainframe tape vendors following IBM’s lead by emulating IBM’s



technology and introducing compatible products, came to an end with 3590 technology. Most notably,StorageTek decided to take a different technology path and Fujitsu Ltd. was the only other vendor tointroduce a 3590 compatible product.

Like the 3480/3490 technologies, Magstar technology uses a longitudinal method of recording and half-inch-wide tape, which is housed in a 3490-like cartridge package. The original Magstar also incorporatedthe same 27-inch tape path as IBM’s 3490E tape drive, and the 3490 air bearings and ceramic guideswere retained. However, it had major changes from the 3480/3490 technology in the design of therecording head, the electronics and new data compression techniques, all of which enabled significantlyhigher capacity and performance over 3480/3490/3490E technology.

The first Magstar 3590 drives, the B-model drives, incorporated a second-generation 16-track MR head torecord data in a longitudinal serpentine method on 128 tracks across the tape. The media for this drive,co-developed by 3M and IBM, was also new, although the cartridge was designed in the same physicalsize as the 3480/3490/3490E cartridge. This enabled it to be inserted in the same library cartridge slotsused for 3480/3490-based libraries. The first Magstar cartridge contained 1,100 feet (320m) of half-inch-wide, 1,600-Oe MP media. These drives stored 10GB of uncompressed data on a half-inch cartridge (vs.800MB on a standard 3490E cartridge), and data were read and recorded at an instantaneous,uncompacted data rate of 9 MB/sec. IBM also changed the data compression techniques on the Magstardrives to Lempel-Ziv (LZ-1) compression (from IDRC data compaction on the 3490 products). Key to thistechnology was an integrated head assembly that included a track-following servo. The mediamanufacturer embedded three servo tracks on the media, and the head assembly followed those tracks toensure accurate alignment. The tape speed is 2 m/sec. Unlike previous IBM half-inch cartridge products,the Magstar 3590 Model B drive was designed with two integrated, separate, fast and wide SmallComputer Systems Interface (SCSI) ports on the back of the unit for attachment of the drive to IBM andnon-IBM systems. Historically, IBM had different tape products for mainframes and midrange systems, butMagstar was designed and positioned for cross-platform attachment to IBM AS/400 and RS/6000systems. IBM also targeted sales of its drives to the OEM channel, but OEM shipments of Magstar havenot been significant. The Model B Magstar attached to mainframe systems via an ESCON channelconnection via the A50 controller, but the SCSI interface allowed the same drive to be used on midrangeor smaller systems.

IBM continued to enhance the Magstar technology and drives from 1995 through 2000. In 1996, IBMannounced a 3590 solution that made Magstar compatible with, and capable of attaching to, StorageTek’ssilos. In April 1999, new “E” models of the 3590 were announced that doubled the native capacity from10GB to 20GB and increased the performance from 9 MB/sec to 14 MB/sec. This increase in capacitywas accomplished by doubling the number of data tracks to 256 and using thinner tracks. The tape speedduring a read/write operation was increased from 2 m/sec to 3.1 m/sec. The number of recordingchannels remained at 16, but the recording heads were modified to read the narrower tracks. Otherannouncements in 1999 included a February announcement of additional open systems support and aJuly announcement of the A60 controller, which provided twice the performance of the previous A50controller, as well as support for four ESCON host attachments.

In February 2000, IBM further expanded the capacity of its Magstar drives with the introduction of anextended-length data cartridge. The tape in this cartridge has a length of 600m. When used with the Emodel drives, this double-length tape takes the native capacity from 20GB to 40GB. With this cartridge,the capacity per cartridge was also doubled to 20GB on the B model drives. All B and E models shippedafter the date of the announcement were “extended-length enabled” and capable of using the longerlength tape. For a fee, previously installed Magstar drives, whether B or E models, could be upgraded inthe field to handle the new tape. Native Fibre Channel attachment for the 3590, E models, was



announced on 20 June 2000 for open systems hosts and storage area networks (SANs). Enhancementsto the A60 Control Unit were also announced in October 2000. These A60 enhancements provided nativeFibre Channel Connectivity (FICON) support and also allowed for intermixing Enterprise SystemsConnection (ESCON) and FICON ports.

In June 2002, IBM announced its most recent version of the 3590 tape drive, the 3590H models withgeneral availability on 28 June 2002. With a 14 MB/sec native data transfer rate, the H models are thesame as the E model drives in terms of performance. They also have the same drive interfaces (dualSCSI or dual Fibre Channel) as the E models. Like the B and E models, the H model drives attach toESCON and FICON via the A60 controller (attachment to ESCON via the A50 controller is not availablefor the H models.). Although there is no increase in the data transfer rate from the Model E drives to theModel H, the 3590 Model H offers up to 50 percent greater capacity due to an increase in the number ofdata tracks from 256 tracks to 384 tracks. The H model drives incorporate a new head technology to readthe narrower tracks. The 3590H models provide a native capacity of 30GB on standard length tape and60GB with the extended length 3590 cartridge. The H models use the same media that was used on theprevious models, and they can also read the 128-track and 256-track formatted cartridges that werewritten by the 3590 B or E model drives. B or E model drives can be upgraded in the field to the H model.

-Fujitsu was the only vendor to develop a Magstar-compatible 3590-tape drive. This drive, called theM8100, was announced in November 1998. It provided compatibility with the IBM B models of the 3590by recording data on 128 data tracks, but it had a higher native data transfer rate than the B models at13.5 MB/sec. This drive was only offered with an Ultra SCSI interface, and it has been shipped mainly intothe Japanese market.

StorageTek 9840/T9840B/T9840C/T9940/9940B

The StorageTek 9840 is a high-performance tape drive targeted at applications that require fast dataaccess and “disk-like,” random-retrieval operations. Although some of the StorageTek TimberLine andRedWood drives had shipped into environments outside of the mainframe arena, the 9840 was the firsttape drive developed by StorageTek with the intent of establishing a presence both inside and outside ofthe “glass house” with a single product. From the beginning, the 9840 was positioned by StorageTek as aproduct that can span from NT servers and Unix servers to large MVS mainframe systems. The 9840cartridge matches the 3480 form factor and can be mixed and matched with 3480/3490 class drives in thesame StorageTek tape library.

Fundamental to the 9840’s performance is its use of a dual-reel cartridge and self-contained tape path, allincorporated within a 3480/3490-shaped cartridge. By encasing the critical tape guidance, movement andhead/tape interface mechanisms within the cartridge, the 9840 eliminates the need to thread the tape ontoa second take-up reel within the transport. The drive is ready for operation as soon as the cartridge isloaded into the transport and locked into position. The 9840 cartridge design also contributes to improvedreliability, since the tape never leaves the cartridge enclosure, reducing problems that may result fromloading and threading the tape and from head/media misalignment. The 9840 automatically loads at themidpoint of the tape, essentially reducing search times and resulting in faster data access speeds duringrestore operations compared to other tape technologies. Before unloading, the 9840 repositions the tapeto its midpoint location for future use. The first-generation 9840 drive is now called the T9840B.

In October 2001, StorageTek introduced a second-generation 9840 drive called the T9840B. The T9840Bboosts performance over the first-generation 9840, but there was no increase in the drive’s capacity. Boththe T9840B and T9840A have a native storage capacity of 20GB, and with the use of enhanced LZ-1 datacompression technology StorageTek specifies compressed capacities of typically 80GB using a 4:1compression ratio in MVS/ESCON mainframe environments. In open-system environments running Unix



or Windows NT/2000 on SCSI or Fibre Channel, a 2:1 compression ratio is common, providingcompressed capacities up to 40GB. The T9840B supports a native data transfer rate of 19 MB/sec, nearlydouble that of the original 9840’s 10 MB/sec native data transfer rate. This is primarily the result of adoubling of the tape speed during read/write operations from 2 m/sec (79 ips) on the T9840A to 4 m/sec(158 ips) on the T9840B. Tape speed during rewind and search operations remains the same for bothdrives at 315 inches/second, and the search speed of the tape is 315 ips, or more than 8 m/sec. The sizeof the T9840B’s data buffer has been increased to 32MB from 8MB on the T9840A. The maximuminternal bandwidth of the T9840B was doubled to 70 MB/sec from the 9840’s maximum internalthroughput. This allows the Fibre Channel version of the T9840B drive to more fully exploit mainstream100 MB/sec Fibre Channel connections. The T9840B has also been designed with a 2 Gb/sec FibreChannel controller interface protecting a customer’s investment by providing a growth path into 2 Gb/secFibre Channel SAN infrastructures. With 2:1 compression, the T9840B can achieve data transfer ratesapproaching 40 MB/sec using an Ultra SCSI interface in an open systems environment. StorageTek alsoclaims that performance in ESCON applications was also improved by 20 percent to 50 percent on theESCON model of the T9840B because the company reduced overhead in the processing channel forESCON. With this reduction in the protocol overhead, the T9840B supports a sustained data rate of 16MB/sec over an ESCON channel. On 9 June 2003, StorageTek announced the immediate availability of anative FICON interface for the T9840B drives. StorageTek’s implementation of FICON differs from IBM’sin that the interface is integrated in the drive in a 1 X 1 architecture. The StorageTek drives connectdirectly to a FICON Director, whereas IBM uses drives with a native Fibre Channel or SCSI interfacewhich connect to an A60 controller which in turn connects to a FICON Director.

Because there was no change in capacity from the T9840A to the T9840B, the data density and numberof data tracks did not change from the first to the second generation. Data on both drives is recordedusing a thin-film MR head on 288 tracks. In addition to the data tracks, the tape contains five bands of fiveservo tracks each (25 tracks total) which are prewritten on the tape at the Imation factory. Imation isStorageTek’s partner for the media and cartridge for its T9840 and T9940 tape drives and is its exclusivesupplier of media/tape cartridges for these drives.

On 5 August 2003, a third generation was added to the 9840 family of drives with the introduction of theStorageTek T9840C. On the T9840C, the capacity was doubled over that of the T9840A and T9840B to anative capacity of 40GB. The data transfer rate of the drive was also increased to 30 MB/sec—-just over50 percent higher than the T9840B drive. The key feature of the drives, which is the fast file access time,was carried over to the T9840C. This drive can access any file on the tape in 12 seconds (including thetime to load and thread the tape to a ready position). Other features and specifications that are the sameon all three generations of the 9840 are a tape motion duty cycle usage time of more than 16 hours a day,support for the same StorageTek libraries and StorageTek’s VolSafe, WORM technology. The T9840C isbackward-read compatible with cartridges written on the T9840A and T9840B drives, and thecartridges/media that are used with an A or B drive are also the same cartridges that are used for theT9840C. The T9840C was initially introduced with a 2Gb/sec Fibre Channel interface. The availability ofan ESCON interface for the drive is planned for December 2003, and a FICON interface is planned forJanuary 2004.

The T9940 is StorageTek’s “capacity centric” solution, geared toward environments that require the sameclass of drive as the T9840, but where the customer prefers greater storage capacity over fast dataaccess times. StorageTek’s T9940 tape drive is based on 9840 technology, and essentially theelectronics are the same on the two drives. The most distinct differences between the T9840 and theT9940 drives are the data cartridge and the loader mechanism for the cartridge. TheT9940 cartridge isdesigned with the same form factor and dimensions as the T9840 cartridge, thus enabling it to be used inthe same library cartridge slots in the StorageTek libraries. The T9940 cartridge contains a single reel of



media, and the tape path, take-up reel and tape guidance system are located inside the drive. The tapemedia is the same MP formulation used for the 9840 media, but the length is much longer than the mediain a 9840 cartridge. The first-generation T9940A drive has a native capacity of 60GB, and like the 9840, ituses enhanced LZ-1 compression techniques that typically provide 120GB of compressible data in Unixand Windows NT/2000 operating environments and 240GB in MVS mainframe environments. Search timeand first access to data averages 41 seconds, or approximately five times that of the 9840 tape drive. TheT9940’s average file access time in subsequent searches is 30 seconds, assuming a search of 1/3 thetape length. Tape load and initialize time is 18 seconds, compared with the 9840’s four seconds, and itsmaximum rewind time is 90 seconds, compared with the 9840’s 16 seconds. Connectivity options for theT9940A support both mainframe and open systems environments using ESCON, Ultra SCSI and FibreChannel interfaces.

In September 2002, StorageTek announced its second-generation T9940 drive, the T9940B, whichbecame generally available in November 2002. The T9940B features a native capacity of 200GB. Thehigher capacity over the T9940A was primarily achieved by doubling the number of data tracks to 576tracks and by implementing a PRML encoding scheme. The T9940B uses the Overland Storage VR2PRML technology. The bit density was increased from 93.7 Kbpi to 157 Kbpi, and there was a slightdecrease in the data format overhead. Like the T9940A drive, it reads and writes using a 16-channelrecording head. Its data transfer rate is 30 MB/sec native (70 MB/sec compressed), and it has anintegrated 2 Gb/sec Fibre Channel interface. An increase in the tape velocity from 2.0 m/sec to 3.4 m/seccontributed to the increased data transfer rate of the 9940B as did the increased bit density and thereduced overhead in the data format. Unlike the first generation drive, the T9940B is not available with aSCSI or ESCON interface because the bandwidth of these interfaces would not be capable of supportingthe internal data rate of the drive. The T9940B has the same average file access time (41 seconds), thesame tape load and initialize time (18 seconds), and the same maximum rewind time (90 seconds) as theT9940 model (now sometimes referred to as the T9940A). During a search or rewind, the 9940 drivesunload the head from the tape to reduce head and media wear. The T9940B is backward read compatiblewith the T9940A drive, and the same cartridges that are used with the T9940A are used with the T9940B.

Helical Scan Technologies

Exabyte, Hewlett-Packard and Sony pioneered the use of helical scan technology in small form-factortape drives for data backup applications. Initially, the plan was to leverage the mechanisms used in videoand audio recorders so that the companies would be able to capitalize on economies of scale, thusreducing cost and time to market. This did not happen in the case of DDS products; however, becausethe consumer audio products never achieved any significant level of market penetration.

Helical scan tape drives record data on tracks that are written diagonally on the tape rather than parallelwith the tape edge as with linear recording. The read/write heads in helical scan tape drives are mountedon a spinning drum known as a rotary head. The head is oriented at a slight angle relative to the tape.The tape moves in the opposite direction to the spinning rotary head, and multiple tracks are recordedand verified concurrently. Typically, the tape supply and take-up reels are both contained within thecartridge. The exception to this is SAIT technology, which is a single reel technology. In most of thesedrives, the tape is pulled into the drive and then wrapped partially around the drum. The tape path istherefore part of the device. Helical scan tape drives fall into the following categories based on the type ofmedia or cartridge they use and the width of the tape.

4mm Helical Scan DDS

Digital Audio Tape (DAT) was originally developed as a format for consumer audio applications and waslater expanded by Hewlett-Packard and Sony in the late 1980s through the DDS standard so that DAT



drives could be used for reliably storing computer data. The DDS format was designed as an open formatwhich HP and Sony licensed to other companies to enable multiple manufacturers of both drives andmedia. Sony and HP reached agreement on the specifications for the fourth generation of DDS in April1998, and the format was endorsed that month by the DDS Manufacturers Group. This group consists ofseveral tape drive and media organizations. Drives conforming to the DDS-4 format became available inthe market in 1999—first from Sony in April and then from HP and Certance (then Seagate) in September.Although the DDS-4 drives are the most recent products that bear the DDS logo, DDS-3 drives, whichbecame available in 1996, continue to be shipped today. Conforming with the format specification, theHP, Sony and Certance drives all have a native capacity of 12GB; however, as with the other DDSgenerations, each vendor’s drive has a different data transfer rate. The native data transfer rates for theDDS-3 drives from HP, Certance and Sony are 1.0 MB/sec, 1.1 MB/sec and 1.2 MB/sec, respectively.

DDS-4 has a native capacity of 20GB, a 67 percent increase over the DDS-3 format. Native data transferrates range from 2.4 MB/sec (Sony) to 2.75 MB/sec (Certance) to 3 MB/sec (HP). Compression ratios arespecified at 2:1. The increased capacity of DDS-4 over DDS-3 was accomplished by using thinner tracks,and the track pitch was reduced by about 25 percent, from 9.1µm to 6.8µm. This effectively increased thenumber of tracks written over 1mm of tape from 12 tracks to 16. DDS-4 also uses an increased tapelength of 155 meters (up from 125 meters). The increased transfer rate was achieved by improvements inread/write head technology, increased drum speed, improved channel recording techniques andadvances in media technology.

After the DDS-4 drives had been adopted by most major computer system OEMs, industry speculationover the future of this technology then shifted to the likelihood of a fifth generation. Conjecture overwhether there would be one or more follow-on generations of DDS technology was fueled by the differentviews expressed by the two companies that specified and licensed this technology, HP and Sony. In May1999, only one month after the general availability of its DDS-4 drives, Gartner obtained an officialstatement from Sony that stated: “While the company has the technical capability to pursue developmentof a DDS-5 product, there has been no consensus by the DDS manufacturers’ group to define a productbeyond DDS-4, and therefore Sony has no plans to pursue the development of DDS-5 at this time.”Although positioning Advanced Intelligent Tape (AIT) as the ultimate successor to DDS had been part ofSony’s strategy since mid-1999, the company did not move aggressively to carry out this strategy untilnearly two years later. In April 2001, Sony made its decision public by issuing a press release stating thatit would not develop a DDS-5 format and declaring its intention to transition DDS users to AIT.

HP, on the other hand, publicly proclaimed in June 1999 its commitment to bringing a DDS-5 product tomarket, and at that time, the company said that it had begun the development of a DDS-5 class drive. HPalso published a DDS migration path showing DDS-5 entering the market in 2001 with a native capacity of40GB and a data transfer rate in the range of 3 MB/sec to 6 MB/sec. The development of a DDS-5 driveby HP continued until at least mid-2000. Then in August 2000, HP advised Gartner that although its DDS-5 program was proceeding well and was running ahead of schedule, the company had decided todiscontinue any additional investment in DDS-5, and its development of a DDS-5 product was put on hold.

Throughout 1999 and the first half of 2000, Certance’s plans also included the development of a DDS-5product line. But in mid-July 2000, Certance advised Gartner of its decision to prioritize its Ultrium productdevelopment and not proceed with development of future generations of DDS products.

Despite these past statements, rumblings about a DDS-5 class of product being resurrected continued,and Gartner stated in the first half of 2002 that it would not rule out the possibility of DDS technologymoving to another level in the future. And in fact, HP and Certance have reversed their earlier decisionsand released “fifth-generation” products. Sony did not. In late 2002, HP determined that there was a validbusiness case to support completing the development of the DDS-5 drive, which it had shelved two years



earlier. Qualification drives were shipped to Tier 1 OEMs in December 2002 and in mid-April 2003, HPannounced general availability of the StorageWorks version of its DAT 72 drive. DAT 72 is a fifthgeneration of HP’s DDS family of drives, but because the product did not originate from the existing DDSManufacturers Association, and the format was also not endorsed by all members of the Association, it iscalled “DAT 72” instead of DDS-5. HP’s DAT 72 drive has a native capacity of 36 GB—-which is 16GBmore than DDS-4. However, the transfer rate for this drive, at a native rate of 3 MB/sec, remains the sameas that of HP’s DDS-4 products.

In 2002 Certance also had its own version of a DDS-4 follow-on product in development. In the fall of2002, when HP decided to resurrect its DDS-5 project, it entered into discussions with Certance regardingDDS. In January 2003, the two came together to announce that they would develop, manufacture, marketand distribute the next generation of DDS technology, thus enabling compatible DAT 72 products to beoffered from both companies. Certance announced the basic specifications for its DAT 72 drives on 14April 2003, and it became generally available in late July. The Certance DAT 72 drive also has a 36GBcapacity, but it has a data transfer rate of 3.5 MB/sec. Sony has remained true to its decision not todevelop a fifth-generation DDS product, and it continues to view and position its AIT drives as thereplacement for DDS.

DAT 72 is read and write compatible with DDS-3 and DDS-4. The increase in capacity was achieved byincreasing the amount of available media space and increasing the density with which data is written tothe tape. Although there was no change to the base film, the magnetic recording layer on the media isslightly thinner, the thickness of the tape was reduced to 5.4µm, and the media length was increased to170m (from 155m on DDS-4). Bit densities were increased to 163 Kbpi by writing more data on eachtrack, and the track pitch was reduced to 4.5µm. In addition, the higher output media used with LTOtechnology was leveraged in the media that is used for DAT 72. The DAT 72 drives retain the 3.5-inchform factor that has existed in all previous generations of DDS products.

8mm Helical Scan

Early adaptations of 8mm helical scan tape drives were based on video camcorder technology withmodifications for storing computer data. Today’s secondary storage manufacturers now design this classof product specifically for computer data storage applications. All products in this category record data on8mm-wide media.

There are basically three 8mm-based formats with products currently using 8mm helical scan technology.Exabyte was the driving force behind the use of 8mm helical scan technology for data storage and hasevolved the technology through its proprietary Mammoth and Mammoth-2 developments. Sony, whichwas at one time a supplier of mechanisms to Exabyte, developed the AIT technology, which has sinceevolved into the second- and third-generation AIT-2 and AIT-3 formats. Finally, Ecrix Corporationdeveloped a technology called VXA for the low-end, more cost-sensitive server markets. In August 2001,Ecrix entered into a merger agreement with Exabyte, which was completed in November 2001, and theVXA technology is now also under the Exabyte umbrella. Although Mammoth, VXA and AIT are all 8mmtechnologies, the formats are not compatible and media cannot be interchanged among the three.

MammothTape Technology

Exabyte announced its first Mammoth tape drive in October 1993. This initial Mammoth drive had a nativecapacity of 20GB and a native data transfer rate of 3 MB/sec (with a specified data compression rate of2:1). Although based on 8mm helical scan recording technology, the first-generation MammothTapedrives (Mammoth) incorporated several significant design changes over the previous 8mm drives thatused mechanisms that were sourced from Sony. With Mammoth, an Exabyte-designed and manufactured



deck design was introduced that eliminated the capstan and pinch-roller system. The capstanless designremoved the part of the drive that places the most pressure on the tape media that can lead tounpredictable wear and reducing reliability. A larger scanner was also added. With the introduction ofMammoth, Exabyte also made a move from MP media to Advance Metal Evaporated (AME) media. Inaddition, Exabyte changed the tape path design to reduce potential stress points on the tape andstreamline the tape path. The data compression used in the initial Mammoth drive was based on IBM’sIncreased Data Recording Capability (IDRC) data compaction algorithms.

The second-generation MammothTape drive, Mammoth-2 (M2), which began shipping in December 1999and is still available today, has a native formatted capacity of 60GB and a native sustained data transferrate of 12 MB/sec. It includes a 32MB adaptive buffer that works to compensate for any variations in dataflow from the host. It also uses an enhanced PRML data-encoding scheme and ALDC as its compressionengine, which Exabyte specifies with a compression ratio of 2.5:1 for higher capacity. The M2 features afour-channel/eight-head scanner in contrast to the Mammoth-1 drive, which had a two-channel/four-headscanner. The additional read/write heads, combined with the higher-bit density, were the main factors thatquadruple the tape drive’s transfer rate over the first-generation Mammoth drive.

To improve head life and the reliability of the drive, M2 uses a unique three-pronged approach to keepingthe drive clean. First, it features a Dynamic Head Cleaner, the small cloth-covered wheel describedabove. Second, the M2 uses a set of inactive burnishing heads to prep the tape and deflect any debris orexcess lubricant before the media encounters the active read/write heads. Third, the M2 utilizes specialAME media, which is equipped with Exabyte’s proprietary “SmartClean” technology. This media designincludes a section of cleaning material at the beginning of each recording tape so that the drive canautomatically clean itself when necessary.

The M2 offers support for native Fibre Channel connectivity for direct attachment to a SAN, eliminatingthe need for Fibre Channel-to-SCSI routers. M2’s one-Gigabit Fibre Channel interface allows throughputof up to 100 MB/sec per path and supports serverless backup with the extended copy command that isembedded into M2 firmware. E-copy is Exabyte’s implementation of the SCSI Extended Copy commandwithin the M2 drive. It allows the direct transfer of data between disk and tape so that data can betransferred across the SAN without the intervention of a server, eliminating a potential bottleneck in thebackup process.

Exabyte had been developing a third-generation Mammoth product, but after the acquisition of Ecrix, thecompany altered its strategy and the Mammoth-3 (M3) development was redirected toward a product thatwould combine elements of the VXA technology with the MammothTape technology. However, thisproduct has fallen victim to the cutbacks that Exabyte made in the first half of 2003 to reduce resourcesand bring its operating costs more in line with its lower revenue level. Therefore, when M2 is discontinued,which Gartner expects will occur in 2004 or 2005, the saga of MammothTape technology at Exabyte willcome to an end.

VXA Technology

VXA tape technology was created by Ecrix Corporation. However, the company entered into a mergeragreement with Exabyte in August 2001 (the deal was finalized in November 2001) and Ecrix’s operationswere fully integrated with Exabyte at that time. The combined companies now operate under the Exabytename.

Exabyte continues to focus the VXA technology on the more cost-conscious, low-end server marketsegment, with DDS technology as its prime target. Two generations of VXA technology are availabletoday, VXA-1 and VXA-2. The first VXA drive, VXA-1, became generally available in September 1999. It



has a native capacity of 33GB and a native data transfer rate of 3 MB/sec. ALDC data compression isused on the VXA drives to effectively double the capacity and transfer rate. The second-generation VXA-2product became available in September 2002. The VXA-2 drive offers a native capacity of 80GB and anative data transfer rate of 6 MB/sec. Other changes that were made to the VXA-2 that differentiate it fromVXA-1 include:

• The addition of PRML channel technology.

• Use of an active drum—the amplifier was moved to the drum to improve the signal-to-noise ratio.

• Support of 230m-long media—a modification was made to the mechanism design to enable thehandling of the longer 230m media.

The VXA architecture is composed of three main elements which Exabyte views as technologicalbreakthroughs and which it believes provides its technology with an advantage over streaming tapedevices: Discrete Packet Format (DPF), Variable Speed Operation (VSO) and OverScan Operation(OSO).

DPF forms the foundation for VXA technology and its data format. VXA’s unique data arrangementscheme allows tapes to be read backward as well as forward. With DPF, long strings of data are brokeninto small units called data packets before being recorded on the media. Each packet contains 64 bytes ofuser data (on a VXA-1 drive) or 128 bytes of user data (on a VXA-2 drive), error correction code, cyclicalredundancy check code, a synchronization marker and address information. Each track on the VXA-1tape includes 387 data packets (351 packets per track on VXA-2), which are recorded and read through aspecial buffer array. Although packets that compose a data string may arrive at different times in the databuffer, each packet has a unique address, thus the VXA architecture can efficiently reassemble thepackets in their original string order. During a read operation, all of the heads scan the tape and read thedata packets into the buffer segment. Exabyte likens this process to a Web browser that assemblesrandom data packets to display a Web page and continues to request packets from the server until thepage is complete—the VXA data buffer retrieves data with each pass of the read heads until all datapackets are loaded into the buffer. Packets that were read correctly in the first pass are retained in thebuffer, and packets that were missing and are read in subsequent passes are added until the data stringsare forwarded to the host. The error correction in VXA is a four-level ECC that is applied in two phases.Each packet includes a Reed-Solomon ECC that can correct small errors typically caused by noise orphase shifts. Next, when the packets are collected in the buffer segment, they form an array that employsa three-dimensional (X-axis, Y-axis and diagonal) Reed-Solomon ECC. This scheme can correct as manyas two lost packets in each row, two in each column and two in each diagonal of the buffer array.

With VSO, the technology adjusts the tape speed to match the rate of data transfer from the host in realtime to eliminate backhitching and its resulting effect on performance and wear on the media and drive.Also with this technology, when the transfer of data stops, the VXA drive slows down to enter “ReadyMode.” It can then start again from that location with a nominal latency of approximately 25ms from thetime the transfer stopped.

OSO is designed to eliminate issues related to track shape and alignment geometry between the tapepath and the recording head. OSO functions during a read operation, and when reading data, a VXA driveuses all of the drives’ heads. It allows each channel of the VXA drive to scan an area greater than therecorded area of the tape. By scanning more than 100 percent of the recorded area with each channel(overscanning), VXA ensures that each packet is read at least once (if a packet is missed by one head, itis read by the another), guaranteeing that all the data are recovered. Exabyte maintains that OSO virtually



guarantees data interchangeability because every packet can be read even if variations in track geometryand track pitch exist.

Advanced Intelligent Tape (AIT) Technology

The Sony AIT format has its roots in the DDS recording format, and AIT was designed from the beginningfor data storage. Like the DDS products, the drives are built to conform to a 3.5-inch form factor. Sonyproduced the first AIT tape drive in 1996. Its stated goal at that time was to deliver a new generation ofdrives with a doubling of both capacity and transfer rate every two years. Three generations of AIT tapedrives have been produced to date, and all three continue to be marketed today. AIT falls into the 8mmhelical scan category, and its cartridge is the same size as other 8mm tape cartridges, but its recordingmethod is proprietary, and there is no compatibility between AIT and the 8mm products from Exabyte. AITdrives include a cartridge-sensing system to ensure that only cartridges designed for AIT drives areaccepted. AIT AME media contains a special ID that the drive recognizes. If an AIT AME cartridge ismistakenly inserted into a non-AIT 8mm drive, a write-protect feature will be activated to protect it frompossible data corruption.

AIT drives use an AME tape media, which Sony says it selected over MP media for AIT because the MPbinder chemistry is more prone to leaving debris on the head and in the tape path. AME’s Diamond-LikeCarbon (DLC) coating protective layer was added to ME media by Sony in 1994 to limit wear on the headand media, and also to eliminate the need for cleaning tapes.

The first-generation AIT-1 drive initially supported a native capacity of 25GB and a 3 MB/sec nativesustained transfer rate. (Note that Sony specifies its compressed capacity and data transfer rates with acompression ratio of 2.6:1 for the AIT drives.) In early 1999, an extended-length tape for the AIT-1 drivewas added, increasing the native capacity to 35GB. Drives that were already installed at that time couldautomatically expand their capacity to 35GB with a simple firmware change. A cost-reduced version of theAIT-1 drive, dubbed the “Valueline” AIT-1, became available in January 2001. This drive leverages thebase mechanics of the AIT-2 design to increase the AIT-1 drive’s native data transfer rate to 4 MB/sec.The Valueline AIT-1 also added an Ultra Wide SCSI interface, a 10MB data buffer, and the rotationalspeed of the drum was increased to 6,400 RPM. As with the AIT-1 drive, the Valueline AIT-1 uses aPRML data-encoding scheme to enable its linear recording density of 116,000 bits per inch (bpi).

Following an announcement in May 1998, Sony’s second-generation AIT drive, AIT-2, began shipping inMarch 1999. AIT-2 provides full backward compatibility with AIT-1 while doubling the native capacity overthe AIT-1 drive to 50GB. The data transfer rate was likewise doubled to 6 MB/sec (native). This doublingof capacity and data rate was accomplished through technological advances in both the drive (recordingheads, channel coding and mechanism design) and recording media. Like the AIT-1 drives, AIT-2 alsohas a 10MB data buffer. The new channel technology introduced with this drive is Sony’s Trellis-CodedPartial Response (TCPR) encoding method, which, when combined with the more advanced mediaformulation, increases its linear recording density to 167,000 bpi. The rotational speed of the AIT-2 drumwas increased from 4,800 RPM to 6,400 RPM. AIT-2 uses Sony’s patented HyperMetal Laminate heads,and with this drive the amplifier was mounted on the drum behind the head to enhance the signal to thehead and reduce noise.

Sony’s third-generation AIT product, the AIT-3, became generally available in November 2001. AIT-3doubles the capacity and performance of AIT-2 and is fully backward read and write compatible with allAIT-2 and AIT-1 media. AIT-3 supports a native capacity of 100GB and a native data transfer rate of 12MB/sec (like the other AIT drives, Sony also specifies a 2.6:1 data compression ratio for the AIT-3). AIT-3uses an extension of Sony’s Hyper Metal Laminate head technology, called Super Laminated. This allowsAIT-3 to use the same AME+ media formulation as AIT-2. To yield the increased capacity, the 230m-long



media that comes out of the production process with a higher output signal is used in the cartridges forthe AIT-3 drives. The other main factor in the increased capacity over AIT-2 was a narrowing of the trackpitch to 5.5 microns on AIT-3 from the 11 microns of AIT-2 which effectively doubled the track density.The rotational speed of the drum for AIT-3 is slightly lower than AIT-2, and the scanner spins at 6,000rpm. For AIT-3, the data-encoding scheme was enhanced, and these drives use Extended Trellis-CodedPRML for a better signal-to-noise ratio. The increase in data transfer rate results from a number of factors,including doubling the number of channels (from two to four), doubling the number of heads (from four toeight), simultaneously utilizing two recording heads on tape, and the increased bit and track densities.The data buffer has also been increased from 10MB on AIT-1 and AIT-2 to 18MB on AIT-3.

Like the AIT-1 and AIT-2, the AIT-3 is designed in a 3.5-inch form factor. AIT-3 supports an Ultra 160Wide SCSI LVD/SE interface, allowing it to support up to a 160 MB/sec synchronous burst data transferrate, whereas AIT-1 and AIT-2 both use an Ultra Wide SCSI LVD/SE interface with a maximumsynchronous burst data transfer rate of 40 MB/sec. New on the AIT-3 drives was Sony’s Remote-Memory-In-Cassette (R-MIC), which is a remote-sensing (as well as physical contact) MIC that will allow a “reader”mounted on the robotics’ arm of a tape library to access the information that is stored in the MIC.

A key feature of all AIT drives is a flash memory chip that is embedded into the spine of the tape cartridgecalled Memory-In-Cassette (MIC). Sony’s MIC technology was introduced with the first-generation AIT-1drive and later enhanced in the AIT-1 extended-length tape model and on AIT-2. MIC is a 64Kb flashmemory chip (16Kb on SDX1-25C tape media) which can be used to store various system and userinformation, such as system logs, search map and user-definable information. Storing key dataparameters this way, rather than on the tape media, provides fast access to on-tape structures and mediastatistics by any AIT drive without having to first read the physical tape media. AIT supports an averagedata access time of 27 seconds (using a 170m tape). While some other tape drives use a similartechnology (that is, LTO Ultrium drives have LTO Cartridge Memory), many maintain directory informationin a header area on the tape media itself that must be read each time a tape is loaded and rewritten whenany modifications to data are made. The MIC also supports multiple partitions and load points, whichallow the loading and unloading of a cartridge to occur without having to rewind the tape to the beginning.

SAIT

In November 2001, Sony made a technology announcement detailing its plans to develop a next-generation AIT format called SAIT. A formal announcement of the first-generation drives based on thisnew architecture was made in February 2003. The company began shipping qualification units to driveand media OEMs in December 2002, and the S-AIT-1 drives began shipping as stand-alone models fromSony and in the Sony PetaSite libraries in the second quarter of 2003. At least one third-party automationvendor began shipping SAIT-based libraries in late second-quarter 2003.

Like AIT, SAIT is based on helical scan recording technology; however, instead of using tape that is 8mmwide and a cartridge that contains two reels of tape, SAIT uses media that is 0.5 inch wide and a cartridgecontaining a single reel of tape. SAIT leverages some of Sony’s technology and component researchdone for AIT, but its 600m AME media is housed in a tape cartridge that is similar to an LTO cartridge. Byutilizing this form factor for S-AIT media, Sony is providing for easier integration of SAIT into existingautomation solutions that support LTO cartridges. S-AIT media will also include R-MIC technology.

Each generation of SAIT will essentially achieve its capacity by utilizing the areal density of the latest-generation AIT drives. But because it will have five times the amount of tape on which to record data, theresult is a product with five times the capacity. The first generation S-AIT-1 drive has a native capacity of500GB on a single cartridge, with a native data transfer rate of 30 MB/sec. Note that the SAIT drives arespecified by Sony with a 2.6:1 compression ratio. Like it did with AIT, Sony has stated that its goal is to



double capacity and performance every two years, allowing the SAIT architecture to reach nativecapacities of 4TB and native transfer rates of 240 MB/sec. Features of S-AIT-1 that are common withSony’s AIT technology include ALDC compression and HyperMetal, Super Laminate Head Technology.Other key specifications of the S-AIT-1 drive include a buffer size of 72MB, a search speed of 147 ips, arewind speed of 551 ips, a combined media load and average access time of 93 seconds, and a linear bitdensity of 159,000 bpi.

The S-AIT-1 drive comes in a full-height 5.25-inch extended drive form factor—-the front dimension of thedrive conforms to a standard 5.25-inch form factor, an internal drive is about 3.5 inches longer than other5.25-inch form factor drives such as LTO and SDLT drives. The first-generation SAIT drives support Ultra160 Wide SCSI and Fibre Channel interfaces. Sony has partnered with Matsushita, a company withexpertise in helical scan product design and manufacturing, to bring SAIT to market. Matsushita is asecond source for the SAIT media and will also resell the Sony S-AIT 1 drives under its own brand name.

Tape Automation Products

As data storage capacity requirements increase, the need for higher-capacity tape storage solutionsgrows. One way to gain additional capacity and simplify the backup and retrieval process at the sametime is through automation. In fact, today’s tape drives are frequently designed with the automationmarket in mind, with drive manufacturers working closely with automation vendors to ensure compatibilitybefore the new drives are even released. Automating the traditional tape functions also providescompanies with a means of lowering costs through reducing or eliminating the human element in theseprocesses and improving productivity. Automation systems can reduce the time and human laborrequired—not only for moving cartridges into and out of a drive, but also for the complex tasks ofmanaging tape cartridges—by storing, cataloging contents and managing the location of tape cartridges.Working in tandem with storage management software, these functions, plus others, can be performedautomatically and efficiently.

There are two main types of automation products for users who need more storage capacity than a singletape can hold—autoloaders and tape libraries. Autoloaders are single-drive mechanisms that are encasedin an enclosure with multiple cartridges and a robotic system to insert and remove the cartridges from thedrive automatically. Tape libraries go a step further with multiple drives and many more cartridges foreven greater storage capacity and higher performance.

Technology Analysis

In an industry where the time between a product’s launch and its obsolescence can sometimes becounted in mere months, it is extraordinary that tape drive technology remains such a predominantcomponent of the storage mix. Tape has been the technology of choice for data backup since the adventof computing, and continued breakthroughs in drive, media and automation robotics design should help itmaintain its leadership position for the near future.

The key to the survival of tape technology may well be the manufacturers’ willingness to adapt and evolvethe technologies to the changing needs of the market. Customers expect tape technology providers todeliver improved capacity and performance on an ongoing basis and at roughly the same cost permegabyte or lower. Depending on the scalability of the technology, manufacturers may modify a particulardesign to deliver improvements in data transfer rates, capacity and reliability. In other instances, acompletely new architecture is required to make the improvements necessary to remain competitive.Exabyte went through this transition when it moved from its original 8mm-tape drive technology to its first-generation Mammoth technology. Likewise, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Seagate, through their cooperativedesign efforts, have all gone through a similar process, resulting in the development and introduction of



LTO Ultrium-based products. Quantum progressed from its DLTtape technology to SDLTtape, which,although it is positioned as the follow-on product to DLTtape, does represent an entirely new architecture.

Business Use

Tape technologies continue to evolve in an effort to meet customer demands for performance, capacity,scalability and reliability in storage solutions, and nearly all of the tape technologies have roadmaps thatextend for multiple generations. Technology roadmaps, with capacities advancing a terabyte or more inthe next three to seven years, are in place for several of the tape formats.

As businesses commit more and more of the time that used to be available for backup tasks to around-the-clock operations, backup windows are rapidly shrinking, and the cost of downtime has increasedsignificantly. With the advent of such storage management applications as point-in-time copy, users nowhave the ability to make a rapid copy of their data and then utilize tape technology to back up the datafaster than ever. Optical technologies have traditionally been viewed as a major threat to tapetechnologies, but they have not had any significant impact on the demand for tape drives and tapeautomation systems. Although the noise level of hard disk-based systems replacing tape is getting louder,most of these systems are being viewed by both the vendors and the customers as complementary totape. In 2002, the total factory revenue (based on worldwide shipments) for tape drives of all formats wasapproximately US$2.178 billion, according to Gartner Dataquest figures. That was down from $2.665billion in 2001.

Technology Leaders

According to Gartner Dataquest, the top 10 tape companies in 2002 based on unit market shares wereSeagate RSS (now Certance), Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Quantum, Tandberg Data, IBM, OnStream Data,Exabyte, StorageTek and MKE/Panasonic (in that order). However, at the end of April 2003, OnStreamData filed for bankruptcy and the company has been closed down. Of these competitors, only the first fourcompanies had a share of greater than five percent, and the top four companies shipped nearly 86percent of the total units shipped in 2002. The situation is quite different, however, when viewed from arevenue perspective. In terms of factory revenue, the top 10 tape companies in 2002 were (in order):Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Quantum, StorageTek, Sony, Seagate RSS (now Certance), Tandberg Data,Exabyte, Fujitsu and NEC. Of these, only the top six had a share of more than five percent. These sixcombined captured 91.2 percent of the factory revenue in 2002.

Following, in alphabetical order, is a short description of the market leaders.

Certance (formerly Seagate RSS) (Costa Mesa, California, U.S.A.)

Certance competes in three different market segments—minicartridge, 4mm helical scan and “small formfactor half-inch cartridge/other data cartridge” (with its Viper 200 LTO Ultrium drive). In 2002, the companyhad a 82.9 percent unit market share (73.2 percent factory revenue market share) in the minicartridgemarket, a 30.5 percent unit market share (26 percent factory revenue market share) in the 4mm helicalscan category and a 4.7 percent unit market share (5.5 percent factory revenue market share) in the“small form factor half-inch cartridge/other data cartridge” segment, according to Gartner Dataquest.Certance, along with HP and IBM, is one of the three LTO TPCs and was one of the founding companiesbehind the LTO program.

Exabyte Corporation (Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.)

Exabyte was one of the pioneers in 8mm helical scan data storage technology, basing its drives onmechanisms sourced from other companies. With the creation of the MammothTape format, Exabytedesigned the entire drive itself. In November 2001, Exabyte and Ecrix Corporation completed a



combination of the two companies and became a single entity operating under the name Exabyte. Ecrixwas originally founded in 1998, and it pioneered the development of VXA tape technology. In 2002,Exabyte captured 29 percent of the unit market share (31 percent of the revenue market share) in the8mm helical scan category. This is down from 2001 when the company held 49.6 percent of the unitmarket share and 48.2 percent of the revenue market share in this category.

Fujitsu (Tokyo, Japan)

Fujitsu competes in both the low-cost half-inch cartridge segment and the high-end half-inch cartridgesegment. The company’s tape products are sold primarily into the Japanese market. In 2002, it had a 62percent unit market share (61.7 percent factory revenue share) of the low-cost half-inch cartridge market.This was up from 34.2 percent and 34.4 percent respectively in 2001. In the high-end half-inch cartridgesegment, Fujitsu had a 2.5 percent unit market share (2.5 percent factory revenue share) in 2002, downfrom 5.4 percent and 7.7 percent in 2001.

Hewlett-Packard Corporation (Cupertino, California, U.S.A.)

Hewlett-Packard’s tape products compete in two market segments—4mm helical scan and “small formfactor half-inch cartridge/other data cartridge” (with its LTO Ultrium drives). For several years HP was themarket leader in the minicartridge tape segment, but in 2000, the company made a decision to exit theTravan minicartridge market, and it shipped its last drives of that type in early 2001. In 2002 the companyachieved unit market shares of 44.1 percent for 4mm helical scan and 13.4 percent for “small form factorhalf-inch cartridge/other data cartridge.” Factory revenue market shares for 2002 were 50.3 percent for4mm helical scan and 18.8 percent for “small form factor half-inch cartridge/other data cartridge,”according to figures from Gartner Dataquest. HP and Sony were the developers and licensors of all theDDS formats. HP was also one of three founding members of the LTO program and is one of the threeLTO Technology Provider Companies (TPCs) that, along with IBM and Certance, develop the LTOspecifications. HP was the first to release a second-generation LTO Ultrium drive.

IBM (Armonk, New York, U.S.A.)

IBM entered the tape market over 50 years ago with the Model 726 half-inch reel tape drive, which wasthe data processing industry’s first half-inch magnetic tape drive. For several decades, IBM was thestandard setter in midrange and mainframe tape drive products, which were emulated by othercompanies. Today, IBM develops and markets products in the high-end half-inch cartridge marketsegment (with its Magstar 3590 drives) and in the “small form factor half-inch cartridge/other datacartridge” segment (with its LTO Ultrium products and its Magstar MB3570 drives). IBM was one of thethree founding members of the LTO open tape architecture program and is one of the three TPCs thatdevelop the specifications for each generation of LTO. It was the first to bring a product to market basedon the first-generation Ultrium specification, and the second with a second-generation Ultrium product.According to Gartner Dataquest, the company had a 14.1 percent unit share and a 27.7 percent revenueshare of the small form factor half-inch cartridge/other data cartridge market segment based on unitsshipped in 2002. In Gartner Dataquest’s high-end half-inch cartridge segment, IBM’s Magstar 3590 drivesrepresented 32.2 percent of the units and 31.9 percent of the factory revenue in 2002.

MKE/Panasonic (Ehime, Japan)

MKE/Panasonic came in tenth in the top ten tape companies based on unit market share. It competes inthe 4mm helical scan segment with DDS drives that it manufactures for Certance and sells itself under thePanasonic brand in Japan. Its unit market share in this category for 2002 was 1.2 percent (up from 0.7percent in 2001) with factory revenue market share at 0.9 percent (up from 0.5 percent in 2001).



NEC (Tokyo, Japan)

NEC competes in the high-end half-inch cartridge segment with drives based on the 3480/3490 formats. Ithad a 3.5 percent unit market share in 2002 (up from 2.4 percent in 2001) and a 4.0 percent factoryrevenue share in this segment in 2002 (up from 2.8 percent in 2001).

OnStream Data B.V. (Eindhoven, the Netherlands)

OnStream Data B.V. was a company formed in May of 2001 through the acquisition of intellectualproperty and other assets from the former OnStream, Inc., after it ceased operations in March of 2001.The OnStream ADR products were classified in Gartner Dataquest’s minicartridge tape segment in 2002,where the company achieved a 17.1 percent unit market share and a 26.8 percent factory revenue shareof this market segment. In April 2003, OnStream Data B.V. filed for bankruptcy a second time and hassince shut down operations in both Europe and the United States.

Quantum Corporation (Milpitas, California, U.S.A.)

Quantum entered the tape drive market in October 1994, when the company closed a deal with DigitalEquipment to acquire Digital’s magnetic disk drive, tape drive, solid-state disk drive and thin-film recordinghead operations. Although the main reason for this acquisition was Digital’s high-performance disk drivesand its recording head operations, the tape business turned out to be the most lucrative part of theacquisition for Quantum. According to Gartner Dataquest, Quantum, with its line of DLTtape andSDLTtape products, was responsible for 66 percent of the unit shipments and 45.8 percent of the factoryrevenue in the “small form factor half-inch cartridge/other data cartridge” market segment for 2002.Quantum completed the acquisition of Benchmark in November 2002, bringing what was the DLT1 andValuSmart tape formats under the Quantum umbrella as well.

Sony Electronics, Inc. (San Jose, California, U.S.A.)

Sony Electronics competes in both the 4mm helical scan and the 8mm helical scan segments, where,according to Gartner Dataquest, it achieved unit market shares of 24.2 percent and 71 percentrespectively in 2002. Looking at market share by factory revenue, Sony had a 22.9 percent share of the4mm helical scan market and a 68.9 percent share of the 8mm helical scan market segment in 2002. Thecompany co-developed the 4mm DDS tape format and was the sole developer of AIT technology (its 8mmoffering).

Storage Technology Corporation (StorageTek) (Louisville, Colorado, U.S.A.)

During the glory years of half-inch reel tape drives and 3480/3490 tape drives, StorageTek typicallyfollowed IBM’s lead in the products it developed by designing products that were compatible with IBMtape drives. But with the development of its 9840 drives, which were launched in December 1998, thecompany broke from tradition and developed its own drives based on formats of its own. StorageTekremained the market leader in the high-end, half-inch cartridge segment in 2002, with 61.8 percent of theunits shipped and 61.6 percent of the factory revenue according to Gartner Dataquest figures.

Tandberg Data ASA (Oslo, Norway)

Tandberg Data has been manufacturing tape drives for more than two decades. It has been the solemanufacturer of quarter-inch data cartridge (QIC) tape drives since 1998, with tape drives based on itsSLR technology. Tandberg Data also has a licensing agreement with Quantum Corporation, which allowsTandberg to manufacture and market DLTtape and SDLT drives, but only to distributors and OEMsheadquartered in Europe, Asia/Pacific and Japan. Under the agreement, Quantum owns OEMs that areheadquartered in the U.S. and the distribution channel for DLTtape and SDLT in North America and Latin



America. According to Gartner Dataquest, Tandberg Data had a 1.8 percent share of the small form factorhalf-inch cartridge/other data cartridge market segment based on units shipped (2.3 percent based onfactory revenue) in 2002.

Recommended Gartner Research

• Tape Drives: Comparison Columns, DPRO-93176

• Tape Drive Market Shares, 2002 (Executive Summary), HARD-WW-0366

• Tape Automation Systems Forecast, HARD-WW-EX-0408

• Quantum DLTtape and Super DLTtape Drives, DPRO-95593

• Benchmark Acquisition Bolsters Quantum Competitive Position, HARD-WW-DP-0389

• LTO Tape Technology Overview, DPRO-107662

• IBM LTO Ultrium Tape Products, DPRO-92231

• Hewlett-Packard StorageWorks LTO Ultrium Tape Drives, DPRO-94156

• Seagate Removable Storage Solutions’ Viper 200 Tape Drive and Viper 2000 Autoloader, DPRO-93620

• What Happens When You Add Super to AIT?, HARD-WW-DP-0182

• Sony AIT Tape Drives, DPRO-99980

• Tape Drive Automation: Comparison Columns, DPRO-92585

• Tape Defends Its Place in the Storage Market, HARD-WW-DP-0331

• Tape Automation Systems Market Shares, 2002 (Executive Summary), HARD-WW-EX-0385

• For clients of the Gartner Dataquest Storage Cluster:

• Tape Drive Market Shares, 2002, HWST-WW-MS-0138

• Tape Drives Forecast, HWST-WW-MS-0145

Insight

The tape market has long been characterized by the vast proliferation of competing formats andtechnologies available for use. Whereas users once lauded the flexibility of choice this provided,uncertainty and confusion grew as the number of options increased. On the other hand, as overall datacapacity needs increase and data availability requirements move to 24×7 continuous operation, demandsto shrink backup windows and reduce restore or recovery times continue to pressure tape technologymanufacturers to deliver the innovative solutions needed to address these requirements. Today, vendorsare working hard to develop ever-faster and larger-capacity drives while still paying close attention to theissue of backward compatibility in an effort to retain the loyalty of their respective installed bases and fendoff competition from disk-based backup systems.

The midrange tape market has become the most highly contested area of the tape market. With theintroduction of LTO Ultrium and SDLT, the door for increased competition is in the user’s favor as thenatural flow of competition works to help keep costs in check. In the helical scan camp, the November2001 introduction of Sony’s AIT-3 and the formal announcement of first generation SAIT drives in



February 2003 continues to put pressure on linear tape technology manufacturers as both sides competefor end-user as well as automation OEM business. Furthermore, IBM and StorageTek continue to battle itout with their own unique formats in the mainframe market while at the same time competing in the high-end of the midrange open systems tape market.

As tape technology continues its evolution, there are still a multitude of different tape technologies tochoose from, each with its own advantages and disadvantages in the key metric areas of capacity,performance, reliability and price. Customers should continue to evaluate their options based on theirunique storage environment, their future growth requirements, their backward-compatibility needs, andthe advantages and disadvantages of the various tape technologies.

Tape Drives: Overview€¦ · Technology Overview 27 August 2003 Tape Drives: Overview Summary With the wide variety of formats and technologies available today, tape drives continue

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