A tape vendor goes FC...............
OVERLAND LAUNCHES FIBRE CHANNEL CONNECTIVITY INITIATIVE
PROGRAM
December 1, 1998
SAN DIEGO, California - Overland Data, Inc. (Nasdaq NMS: OVRL), a
technology leader in data storage and backup products, today announced a
new program designed to give customers of its award-winning
LibraryXpress™ line of DLTtape*-based automated libraries access to the
performance advantages and connection flexibility enabled by Fibre Channel
technology.
Overland's Fibre Channel Connectivity Initiative is aimed at creating strategic
partnerships with key vendors to jointly define and develop Fibre-capable
automated storage solutions built around the LibraryXpress to capitalize on
emerging Fibre Channel market opportunities. According to Steve
Richardson, Vice President of Marketing at Overland, the company's goal is
to provide customers with a wide choice of Fibre Channel connectivity
options, similar to Overland's efforts in qualifying a broad range of backup
and data management software applications to operate on Overland
hardware.
With this initiative, Overland is establishing programs and procedures to
qualify Fibre Channel hardware products on the LibraryXpress platform,
enabling LibraryXpress users to take advantage of the higher throughput
enabled by this new connectivity technology. Fibre Channel is a 1 gigabit
per second (100 Mbytes/second, 200 Mbytes/second duplex) data transfer
interface technology that maps several common transport protocols
including IP and SCSI, allowing it to merge high-speed I/O and networking
functionality in a single connectivity technology. Fibre Channel is quickly
becoming the de-facto connectivity standard for high-speed storage access
and server clustering, and is a natural solution for gigabit enterprise
backbones, and gigabit LANs for high speed storage, image, video and
mass data transfer applications.
By reaching out to the Fibre Channel hardware community, Overland is
ensuring that its library customers will have the freedom to select the best
Fibre Channel option for their specific server and network environments
instead of being locked into a proprietary solution, said Richardson.
"Overland believes that its libraries must work on the customer's choice of
Fibre Channel hardware, not the other way around," he said. "We have
elected to adopt an open connectivity model to give our customers access
to the full spectrum of Fibre Channel options, allowing them to protect their
existing LibraryXpress hardware investment and still take advantage of
advances in connectivity technology."
As the first step in its Fibre Channel initiative, Overland announced a
co-marketing agreement with ATTO Technology, Inc., linking the
LibraryXpress to ATTO's Fibre Channel interface products, including the
ATTO FibreBridge™, a Fibre Channel-to-Ultra SCSI bridge that enables
SCSI-based peripherals to be enhanced with the benefits of Fibre Channel
technology.
"We are delighted to join forces with Overland in offering the industry this
powerful, innovative storage solution," said Tom Petrocelli, ATTO Fibre
Channel Product Manager. "This partnership is a breakthrough in
state-of-the-art, high-availability computing, enabling those who rely on tape
backup to enjoy a new level of speed and long distance connectivity and
achieve it in a convenient and cost-effective manner."
ATTO's FibreBridge is an intelligent, managed Fibre Channel to Ultra SCSI
bridge that allows integrators to easily attach any existing SCSI product to
Fibre Channel. As part of ATTO's family of stackable Fibre Channel bridges,
hubs and other products, ATTO FibreBridge provides Fibre Channel
performance of 1.0625 Gigabit (100 Mbytes/second) transfer rates, tightly
coupled with two independent 40 Mbyte/second Ultra SCSI buses for a
combined throughput of up to 80 Mbytes/second.
The FibreBridge-equipped LibraryXpress provides a technology solution that
enables users to easily and economically transition their existing tape
libraries to a next-generation interface and take advantage of the increased
connectivity and throughput that Fibre Channel technology delivers.
The LibraryXpress is designed for entry-level automation applications starting
at 50 gigabytes, scalable to 3 terabytes for network storage, and is the first
scalable automated library solution that eliminates the physical limitations of
conventional tape library designs. The flexible SmartScale Storage™
architecture of the LibraryXpress allows customers to start with a LXB base
module containing one or two DLTtape drives and 10 cartridges, generating
an automated storage capacity of up to 700 gigabytes and a data rate of up
to 72 gigabytes per hour. Capacity and performance can then be scaled
upward based on individual customer requirements to create an ultimate
multi-terabyte automated storage solution. The SmartScale Storage design
allows network administrators to mix various capacity and performance
modules to fine tune the LibraryXpress as it is expanded. The ratio of tape
drives to cartridges can be balanced to achieve the optimal configuration
based on the customer's individual capacity, performance and budget
requirements. LibraryXpress pricing starts at $13,995.
Based in Amherst, New York, ATTO Technology, Inc., is a global leader in
SCSI and Fibre Channel storage technology. Since its founding in 1988,
ATTO has been engineering award-winning solutions specifically for
data-intensive applications in the Macintosh, PC and workstation markets.
ATTO distributes its products worldwide through original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs), distributors, VARs, system integrators and directly
to corporate end users. ATTO Technology can be found on the World Wide
Web at http:/www.attotech.com.
Overland is a global supplier of storage automation solutions and related
technologies designed to meet and surpass the critical requirements of
high-availability network computing environments, from entry level to the
enterprise. The Company is a recognized leader in technology innovation for
such achievements as the award-winning DLT LibraryXpress SmartScale
Storage architecture that establishes new standards for intelligent
automated storage and scalability, and the patented (#5,815,514) Variable
Rate Randomizer (VR2™) data encoding technology that can significantly
increase the capacity and throughput of linear tape formats. Overland has
also earned a worldwide reputation for unmatched product quality and
innovative warranty programs such as the recently announced Guaranteed
Up Time Service (GUTS™) Program that dramatically reduce the total cost
of ownership. The Company's award-winning products meet the critical
needs of end users, distributors and OEMs in industries worldwide. |
