November 6, 2000

http://www.informationweek.com/811/tape.htm

New Formats Fight To Dominate Tape Storage

Quantum banks on SuperDLT to keep it on top as IBM, HP, and Seagate ramp up LTO technology

By Larry Kahaner

he tape storage wars have begun, and the battle lines are being drawn. In one corner stands IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Seagate Technology, offering a new format for tape storage called Linear Tape-Open (LTO), which they will license to any qualified company. In the other corner is Quantum, the current reigning champion and market leader, which has kept its Digital Linear Tape (DLT) format pretty much to itself.

The battle involves technology with an old-fashioned image--tape storage dates to the early 1950s. However, tape storage remains the most reliable and cost-effective way to store large amounts of data--tapes are durable and can be taken off-site for safekeeping without damaging their data.

"Tape cartridges hold more data per square inch of recording surface than any other technology," says Brad Renfree, senior manager, product marketing for LTO at Seagate Technology. "It's still the most cost-effective storage and safest media we have."

As if the concept of tape storage isn't retro enough, small tape backup systems rely on jukebox-like mechanisms--roving robotic arms and software working together as autoloaders--that insert tape cartridges into single drives which store, retrieve, read, and write data. Larger backup systems, called tape libraries, contain storage racks for holding many cartridges and multiple robotic arms for moving the cartridges to drives that operate simultaneously. A small tape library may contain several drives and dozens of cartridges. Large libraries can hold more than 100 drives and thousands of cartridges.

About 30% of drives are currently integrated into libraries, and this is increasing as companies' data storage needs rise. Libraries' scalability is also a big plus. Because they're built modularly, libraries can easily handle more data by adding more drives and additional autoloader mechanisms.

As E-business servers handle more data, the market for tape storage continues to grow. Total revenue for third-party manufacturers and integrators of high-performance tape units was $1.2 billion in 1999 and is expected to increase to $1.8 billion by 2005, according to Bob Abraham, president of Freeman Reports, a management consulting firm that specializes in data storage. Worldwide, the tape-automation market will reach $4.6 billion by 2004, according to consulting firm International Data Corp. However, as companies back up ever-larger files from their servers--due to the increasing deployment of graphics, video, and sound on the Web--these estimates may turn out to be conservative.

More than money and market share are at stake in the business of tape backup. There's also a changing of the guard. "Until now, Quantum was the only kid on the block," says Abraham. "Now there's competition."

Quantum has dominated the tape-storage industry, and its products are known for high quality and reliability. Quantum has shipped more than 1.5 million Digital Linear Tape drives and more than 50 million cartridges since acquiring the DLT technology about five years ago. The technology, purchased from Digital Equipment Corp., was languishing as an 8mm product before Quantum brought out a half-inch version that took off.

However, due to Quantum's market dominance, there have always been complaints about lack of choice. Quantum licensed its proprietary format to only one company, Tandberg Data in Oslo, Norway; this irked customers who felt that even if Quantum was the world's best choice for tape storage, they still had no options.

About three years ago, IBM, HP, and Seagate teamed to establish a new tape standard in hopes of breaking Quantum's hold on the market. It was openly licensed to all comers that met the criteria. About 20 companies have received licenses to produce these LTO products. "Why did we go after this market?" asks Bob Maness, IBM's LTO product manager, in Somers, N.Y. "We saw that customers had no options. Quantum was the only supplier and our research showed customers wanted choices."

Two versions of LTO products will be offered: Ultrium and Accelis. The Ultrium format uses a single-reel tape cartridge, handling about 100 Gbytes of uncompressed data per cartridge, with a transfer rate of 15 Mbytes per second.

The Accelis format is aimed at users that require faster access. Due to its configuration--it uses a dual-reel tape cartridge and a midpoint loading feature--it claims to reduce search times to less than 10 seconds on average. First-generation tapes hold 100 Gbytes of data, rising to 200 Gbytes, with transfer rates of 10 Mbytes to 20 Mbytes per second. Vendors are waiting to assess customer interest in Accelis storage systems before unveiling specific products.

One advantage touted by LTO's backers is a feature called Statistical Analysis Reporting, developed by IBM and integrated into LTO. Statistical Analysis Reporting uses a special chip embedded into each cartridge that memorizes which recording tracks have been corrupted. Customers can see how badly worn a tape is and decide if they want to reuse it. However, users of the DLT technology, which didn't have a similar early-warning system, have complained they were unsure how many times a tape could be reused, so they routinely threw tapes away after one or two uses.

In September, IBM began shipping its Ultrium Tape Drive desktop SCSI drive for small office applications and a high-end scalable library. "It's an incumbent market, so we are pricing aggressively, toward the current DLT market, which is $9,000" for a desktop unit, Maness says. IBM's 3584 ultrascalable library, dubbed Anaconda, can contain up to 24 drives and handle up to 721 cartridges. Total storage capacity is 72 terabytes, and prices range from $42,000 to $75,000.

Seagate last month also began shipping its Ultrium product called Viper 200. The company promises that a 2-terabyte autoloader will be shipped in January. This high-speed product is aimed at large companies that back up large amounts of data mainly at night, says Seagate's Renfree. The drives will be priced from $5,000 to $6,000. "Our typical customer may back up 10 to 20, maybe 30, terabytes at night," says Renfree. HP is also shipping its Ultrium products, through third-party channels; they're scheduled to be available later this year.

But Quantum isn't standing idly by as challengers trespass on its turf. It will soon introduce the Super DLT 220, which will hold about 110 Gbytes per cartridge with a slightly slower transfer rate of 11 Mbytes per second. "Next year, we'll have a 16-Mbyte [per second] product," says Phil Treide, manager of SuperDLT product marketing. It's expected to be priced at about $8,000, though no official pricing has been announced.

Quantum also plans to introduce a new optical technique called Laser Guided Magnetic Recording that helps position the servo mechanism, which keeps the tape on track, by beaming a laser on to a strip of reflective material on the tape's reverse side. This eliminates the need to write servo reference marks on the front side of the tape, allowing more space for data storage, Quantum officials say. Users are divided by the issue, which transcends technological factors. Some favor the out-and-out smashing of Quantum's de facto monopoly, while others take a more reserved attitude toward the new world order of tape storage.

One outspoken critic of SuperDLT is Craig Hibbert, senior Internet engineer at EMC Corp.'s Internet services group. EMC builds storage systems for companies and integrates many different storage products. "We've tested LTO and it's fantastic," says Hibbert. "We don't see a future for DLT. I've told my clients to hold off buying DLT so they can buy LTO." For Hibbert, the crucial failing of DLT is its slower speed compared to LTO, but he also decries the lack of choice.

Another LTO advocate is Scott Dunlap, a systems engineer for xpedx, a division of International Paper Co. in Macedonia, Ohio, that helps large data users maintain data-storage facilities. Its customers in the printing industry can have files ranging from 100 Mbytes to 2 Gbytes in size, so while high speed is important, so is high capacity.

Dunlap has tested LTO since July and says he's impressed, citing transfer rates of 11 Mbytes to 15 Mbytes per second. "It was buggy at first, but that's to be expected. All the bugs are now fixed," he says. Dunlap has been using Sony's AIT 8mm tape format, but says that LTO's lower price was attractive. More important, he says, many companies are making LTO products. "We tried DLT but didn't like it because it was from just one company," he says. "For us, having competition is important."

One of SuperDLT's most powerful weapons in its war with LTO is its backward compatibility. Except for the first round of offerings, all SuperDLT products will be backward-compatible with current DLT products, so users won't have to scrap their existing systems. "For some customers, compatibility will be important," says Robert Amatruda, a senior researcher at IDC.

But so is fear of the unknown. For many, SuperDLT is the low-risk choice. "If I have to find data on a backup tape, it has to work," says Duane Ternes, director of IT at Electric Lightwave Inc. in Vancouver, Wash. "It's not a place I experiment. When it comes to backups, I'm conservative. DLT is a proven technology; LTO is new and unproven."

Electric Lightwave is an integrated provider of enhanced data services, switched voice, frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode, and Internet access to businesses that require a large amount of bandwidth, especially those engaged in E-commerce, Ternes says. He tested LTO in March and April and found bugs, which have since been corrected. Still, for him, LTO isn't ready yet. "It will be viable in the long term," he says. "They'll be a player, but it's not there yet." Also affecting Ternes' decision to stay with DLT are concerns over his vault of backup tapes. "DLT will continue to support the tapes, some of which are up to 10 years old," he says.

Josh Chessman, director of advanced technology at Merlin One Inc., supports DLT. The Quincy, Mass., company has 65 to 70 customers, including the Boston Globe and The New York Times, that use its archival service. MerlinOne helps customers store photos for future sale, and is an authorized seller of National Football League photos. For Chessman, staying with DLT is a no-brainer. "LTO is not proven," he says. "DLT will be increasing its size [to SuperDLT], so there's no reason to change." But Chessman notes that the advent of LTO will be good for him and others, even if they stay with DLT. "Prices will have to come down because of LTO competition," he says.

While the two competing formats battle for acceptance, the war may be won or lost based on decisions by third parties--companies that assemble and sell tape libraries--as they're often the decision makers for large users of tape storage. Steve Whitner, director of marketing at Advanced Digital Information Corp. in Redmond, Wash., says his company will be the first to ship libraries of both SuperDLT and LTO. "We're a neutral party. We're going to carry it all," he says.

Whitner says DLT will maintain its market share, but LTO may let users move up to midrange drives as their needs grow. "LTO gives a good bang for the buck," Whitner says. No matter who wins, he says companies like his will benefit by being able to offer clients more choice and lower prices.

LTO seems to have the forward momentum currently, with IBM beating Quantum's SuperDLT to market with a less costly and faster product. While IBM's Maness and his counterparts at Seagate and HP have promised to support their customers' existing DLT systems, with so much riding on LTO's success, some customers have privately expressed concern about their commitment to current DLT installations.

The situation is still shaping up. "The tape market is measured in years, not quarters," IDC's Amatruda says. "Time to market is an issue, but it's not that important an issue."

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