Sun Releases New Archiving Goodies

March 3, 2008: Sun has released three new additions to its open archive solutions, namely a scalable, energy-efficient midrange modular library, a fourth-generation fast-access tape drive and enhancements to its multi-tiered archive appliance.

Fueled by an explosion in unstructured data growth, longer data retention periods, increased use of digital assets, regulatory compliance, and overall storage optimisation, Sun says that archiving is one of the fastest growing segments of the storage market, and one that needs more attention.

To this end Sun says that its new StorageTek SL3000 is the world's first midrange library to deliver enterprise-class availability, and do it energy-consciously. It includes features like non-disruptive capacity and performance scalability, as well as multiple partitioning options to consolidate existing library assets and support open systems and mainframe environments.

In addition to the SL3000, Sun has also released new T9840D Tape Drives, dubbing them the only fast-access tape drive in the industry with an average data access time that is up to four times faster than conventional capacity-centric tape drives.

Aimed at certain nearline archive applications, the T9840D is also the first tape drive to allow re-use and reformatting of media across four generations, and includes build-in encryption.

As for enhancements to its multi-tiered archival appliance, Sun’s Ready Infinite Archive System has been built around its Storage Archive Manager (SAM) software and offers optional tiers of performance and capacity disk along with tape storage for less active archive data.

“As the most open storage vendor on the planet, Sun is committed to delivering archive solutions that leverage open source software and to using open formats and APIs that both 'future-proof' customers against costly technology changes down the road and blow the lid off of competing high-margin proprietary offerings,” said Jon Benson, senior vice-president of Storage at Sun.

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