New Quantum Px510 Re-Defines Data Center Tape Automation With Enterprise Features at a Price Point Well Below the Competition
May 23 2005 - 9:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
New Quantum Px510 Re-Defines Data Center Tape Automation With
Enterprise Features at a Price Point Well Below the Competition
Tape Library Supports Tiered Storage and Consolidation Strategies
With a Dense, Rackmount Building Block Approach Delivering
Unsurpassed Flexibility and Value SAN JOSE, Calif., May 23
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Quantum Corp. (NYSE: DSS), a global
leader in storage, today announced the PX510, a data center-class
tape library designed to deliver unsurpassed customer value through
an innovative enterprise feature set at a price point well below
the competition. Designed to meet evolving customer needs in the
growing, yet under-served 100-400 cartridge slot midrange
automation market segment, the Quantum PX510 supports enterprise
customers that are consolidating storage systems and combining
disk- and tape-based solutions as a solid foundation in a tiered
storage model. With the introduction of the PX510, Quantum has
extended its leadership position of delivering the broadest set of
backup, recovery and archive systems that can be used as flexible
building blocks to optimize storage resources. The PX510 offers
enterprise-class reliability, high-availability features,
scalability and functionality comparable to Quantum's flagship
PX720 enterprise library. While the PX720 is a freestanding system,
the PX510 is packaged in an 18U rackmount form factor. The PX510
library is well positioned within Quantum's existing tape
automation portfolio between the PX720, which offers up to 720
cartridge slots in a single frame and scales to five frames, and
the modular, 100 slot M2500 tape library. "Quantum's PX510 tape
library is designed to meet the needs of a growing midrange market
which is in the midst of a wave of storage consolidation," said
Brian Garrett, analyst for Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG).
"On-line, near-line and off-line information stores are bursting at
the seams as increasing attention to corporate governance and
compliance regulations drive the need for increased retention and
reliability. With the PX510 tape library's innovative feature set
and excellent value proposition, Quantum is demonstrating an
aggressive go-to-market strategy in a well established channel. ESG
expects the PX510 will delight customers and win market share."
Over the past few years, the declines in the price of disk storage
and the growth of virtual tape library (VTL) technology have
received much industry attention. However, an even more compelling
value proposition has emerged in the tape library market. The
combination of increased tape cartridge capacity, increased
cartridge slots per library and substantial decreases in library
footprints have all combined to significantly reduce the price per
gigabyte (GB) equation for customers as they seek the best
combination of disk-based backup and tape automation as a
foundation for a tiered storage strategy. Quantum has played a
leading role in this shifting cost paradigm as a pioneer and
leading VTL supplier and with its introduction of the PX720
enterprise library in late 2003. The new PX510 further embodies
this paradigm shift, with a price per GB that is at least 80
percent less than that of comparable tape automation systems of
just a few years ago. The PX510 delivers up to 160 terabytes (TB)
in 18U, or more than five TB per rack unit. When combined with
Quantum's DX-Series VTL systems and Optyon(TM) In-line Data
Compression technology, the PX510 enables customers to maximize
complementary disk and tape backup, recovery and archive
performance and reliability with the flexibility to scale to
hundreds of terabytes, while making best use of valuable rack
space. Quantum's PX510 is aggressively setting the standard for
value compared to competitive enterprise and midrange tape
automation offerings from companies such as ADIC and StorageTek. As
an example, a typical midrange customer implementation of the PX510
with five LTO-2 drives and 201 slots will be available at an MSRP
of more than 40 percent below a competitive offering from
StorageTek using the similarly-positioned SL500 library with five
LTO-2 drives and 256 slots at a current MSRP. In addition to the
price advantage of the PX510, it has a number of innovative
features that set it apart from the competition and addresses
customer consolidation and tiered storage strategies. Quantum's
innovative and patent-pending FlexLink(TM) system is designed to
allow customers to scale or descale the PX510 library on demand
without a field service call and without bringing the library
offline. Because the PX510 consists of independent modules,
FlexLink does not require additional equipment or cables. Also,
unlike competitive libraries such as the StorageTek SL500,
customers implementing the PX510 are not penalized with a
high-priced initial "base unit" and monolithic "master and slave"
architecture when scaling which creates a single point of failure
and cannot be redeployed once implemented. Quantum's FlexLink
system allows customers to descale and redeploy PX510 modules,
adapting as customers' storage needs change and, thereby, providing
the flexibility to balance current needs with future requirements.
"Quantum focused the design of the PX510 to meet changing customer
needs within the growing midrange market, delivering a library
system that is extremely flexible and setting a new standard for
customer value in the industry," said Ted Oade, director of
automation product marketing for Quantum's Storage Systems Business
Unit. "Our research shows that more than one-third of customers
reassign their automation investments in the first few years after
purchase, so we knew it was critical that the PX510 not only
provide pain-free scalability but also descale just as simply to
achieve maximum long-term customer value." The PX510 is extremely
dense at 18U per module, with up to 10 tape drives and 171 SDLT or
201 LTO cartridge slots and native performance per module of up to
2.9 TB per hour. The PX510 is shipped with high availability
features such as redundant power supplies and fans, as well as
hot-swappable tape drives as standard. Quantum also offers
Web-based tools for remote management, diagnostics, upgrades and
operations built into the PX510 at no additional cost.
Additionally, Quantum's PX510 provides customers true mixed media
by magazine through the various SDLT and LTO tape drive options
offered. PX510 Availability Quantum plans to begin taking customer
orders and to ship the PX510 tape library through the company's
network of channel and value added reseller partners in the third
calendar quarter of 2005. About Quantum Quantum Corp., a global
leader in storage, delivers highly reliable backup, recovery and
archive solutions that meet demanding requirements for data
integrity and availability, with superior price/performance and
comprehensive service and support. Quantum offers customers of all
sizes an unparalleled range of solutions, from leading tape drive
and media technologies, autoloaders and libraries to disk-based
backup systems. Quantum is the world's largest volume supplier of
both tape drives and tape automation and has pioneered the
development of disk-based systems optimized for backup and
recovery. Quantum Corp., 1650 Technology Drive, Suite 800, San
Jose, CA 95110, (408) 944-4000, http://www.quantum.com/. NOTE:
Quantum, the Quantum logo, DLT and DLTtape are trademarks of
Quantum Corporation registered in the United States and other
countries. FlexLink and Optyon are trademarks of Quantum
Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners. "Safe Harbor" Statement under the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release
contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Specifically,
without limitation, statements relating to (1) customer benefits
from using Quantum's PX510 tape libraries, (2) future sales, market
share and availability of such libraries and (3) pricing of such
libraries and of competitive offerings, are forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor. These statements
are based on management's current expectations and are subject to
certain risks and uncertainties. As a result, actual results may
differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained
herein. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those described herein include, but are not limited
to, operational difficulties, unforeseen technological limitations,
the ability of competitors to introduce new products that compete
more successfully with our products, changes in market conditions
and unanticipated changes in customers' needs or requirements. More
detailed information about these risk factors, and additional risk
factors, are set forth in Quantum's periodic filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to,
those risks and uncertainties listed in the section entitled
"Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and
Results of Operations -- Risk Factors," on pages 38 to 49 in
Quantum's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission on February 2, 2005 and pages 38 to 49 in
Quantum's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission on June 14, 2004; and those described in any
subsequently filed reports. Such reports contain and identify
important factors that could cause actual events and results to
differ materially from those contained in our projections or
forward-looking statement. Quantum expressly disclaims any
obligation to update or alter its forward- looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
DATASOURCE: Quantum Corp. CONTACT: Sean Lamb of Quantum Corp.,
+1-408-944-6727, or Web site: http://www.quantum.com/
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