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Enterprise tape storage has not exactly riveted the attention of Information Technology leaders. The norm in this market has been a succession of modest performance increases-new variations on familiar half-inch tape cartridges and linear-serpentine recording, such as Super DLT 320 and LTO Ultrium generation 2. But a new enterprise-class half-inch cartridge is rewriting the rules and transforming the economics of tape storage. The new SAIT format is set to trigger resurgent interest in tape for enterprise storage vertical applications.
Four factors set SAIT apart. First, the new format delivers the world's highest storage capacity, best-in-class storage density and top-notch transfer speed, redefining what is possible in tape storage. Second, SAIT offers the industry's most far-sighted roadmap for compatible growth, pointing to a future that's both brighter and much closer than many had thought possible. Third, SAIT currently delivers the industry's lowest consumable cost per gigabyte, a decisive advantage in today's IT environment. Fourth, SAIT is easily integrated into today's world-class tape libraries, thanks to its half-inch media form factor.
Buoyed by these four advantages, SAIT has generated powerful momentum in the industry. Sony manufactures SAIT tape, SAIT drives and the S-PetaSite library, also based on SAIT. The new format has also attracted a true second source of both tapes and drives: Matsushita, known in the U.S. for the Panasonic brand. In addition, many tape automation vendors have expressed their interest to integrate SAIT drives and media into their half-inch tape library solutions. These companies include leaders like ADIC, Qualstar and Spectra Logic.
This article will review the requirements for future tape storage, showing how SAIT compares to other choices. It will examine some issues surrounding tape format migration, and it will review some of the most urgent vertical applications where SAIT is best qualified to solve end-user problems. These include content creation, email archiving, medical information, storage consolidation and replacing disk arrays.
Meeting Brutal Requirements
The future will not be kind to many existing tape formats. The challenge is both technical and economic as the cost-per-megabyte of hard disk storage continues to drop. Low-cost disk arrays may, in fact, overtake conventional tape roadmaps as early as 2004. To remain relevant, tape must match increasing hard disk capacity while decisively beating hard disk pricing.
In the...