Imation mates tape with disk

Oct 5, 2005: Imation has announced its new disk based Ulysses media cartridge, bringing tape backup the benefits of disk at almost the same price as tape.

Upgrading from a tape backup environment to a disk based one involves considerable time and cost. The Ulysses however allows the speed benefits of tape to be utilised without having to invest in new hardware or making changes to floor space, wiring or other infrastructure.

By slotting a 2.5-inch disk drive into a standard LTO Ultrium cartridge form factor, Imation have been able to bring the benefits of disk to those who are reluctant to move away from tape due to costs involved.

Using the Ulysses tape drive emulator, the disk media fits into any standard tape drive bay. It is then recognised by the host, backup and storage management software as a standard tape drive.

Targeting a at users who want a disk-to-disk-to-tape solution without major system modifications, Imation say that Ulysses can restore files up to 10 times faster than conventional tape libraries. And since the system is tape-based capacity is completely scalable with no need for initial heavy investment.

Ulysses technology will be available in 2006.

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