Tandberg engages fast storage drive

Tandberg Data has introduced a 12/24Gb tape drive with a transfer rate of up to 8.6Gb per hour, or 2.4Mb per second, for networks, workstations and midrange storage systems, as an alternative to 4mm DAT products.

The SLR6 uses the firm's Scalable Linear Technology (SLT), which is based on the standard quarter-inch cartridge format, and connects through a fast and wide 16-bit SCSI interface.

Sales director Steve Smith explained, "Tandberg has been developing this technology over the past three or four years and it is the development of technologies from the hard disk industry that we have incorporated into tape drives and turned into new standards for quarter-inch cartridge tape drives."

The system comes in various form factors that range in price from #595 for the basic drive. An internal kit, including a cartridge and cabling, costs #694 and an external version comes in at #746.

Both of these can also be supplied with Seagate Software's Backup Exec for #756 and #806 respectively. Also, there are a couple of promotional offers, including data cartridges and cleaning cartridges, for #868 and #912. The company is shipping samples this week, and the final versions should be ready in about the third week of August direct from Tandberg or Computer 2000, Ideal Hardware, Summit Peripherals and CMS Peripherals.

The company is also working on the launch of another product, an autoloader application for SLR drives, expected to be released in Q4.