www.nextedit.com.au (http://www.nextedit.com.au)

Tape autoloader

Storage vendor Exabyte has release what it claims to be a world-first in capacity on demand tape drives with the VXA-172 series Packet Drive and Packetloader products. The VXA-172 PacketLoader 1x10 is 1U, rack-mounted, automatic tape loader that supports upgradeable tape drives and multiple tape capacities. With one drive and 10 tape cartridge slots, the PacketLoader 1x10 has 1.7TB of capacity and 86GB per hour of throughput, and can be upgraded to 3.2TB of capacity. Unattended backups are possible with tape automation. According to Exabyte its VXA-172 products are more scalable and DAT or DLT tape drives as the drive is field-upgradeable. An Ultra2Wide SCSI interface is available now with SATA and FireWire support coming later this year.

Vendor: Exabyte

Price: A$2499 (add $550 for capacity on demand)