HP Pulls Plug On UDO
HP Pulls Plug On UDO
May 2nd, 2006: In a letter to its storage customers, HP has stated that as of June 30th this year it will discontinue shipping of all Magneto-Optical (MO) and Ultra Density Optical (UDO) jukebox products worldwide.
HP says that the move away from MO and UDO jukeboxes is required for it to become RoHS compliant in the European Union. RoHS is an EU directive dealing that restricts the use of certain hazardous substances in electronic products shipped into EU countries.
HP will be offering upgrade and conversion kits until the first of June 2007 for customers wanting to switch over to the current MO 9.1 GB or UDO 30 GB drive format.
In the wake of HP pulling out of the market, Plasmon has announced a UDO upgrade program for optical storage users moving to UDO in a bid to woo HP’s stranded customers.
“This program comes at a key time when government regulations and company requirements are requiring longer and longer archive retention periods, proof of authenticity as well as fast access to archived files,” said Nigel Street, CEO of Plasmon. “Our UDO Upgrade Program is ideal for companies looking for higher capacity and faster access times at the lowest total cost of ownership.”
“This is important since some of the other manufacturers of optical libraries, as per HP’s announcement, are exiting this market due to their decision to not become compliant with the European regulation titled “Restriction of Hazardous Substances” or RoHS,” AustSTOR’s Lachie Macdonald told IDM. “The install base of those manufacturers will welcome this announcement as it facilitates the easy adoption of UDO, (a three generation growth path) will provide a substantial degree of investment protection by not having to replace older MO media, will reduce their TCO.”
HP says it will continue to sell MO and UDO media “for the foreseeable future” and will continue to provide support and replacement parts for jukeboxes until 2011, although the jukeboxes themselves will no longer be sold.
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