ANDATACO Product Brief

RAPID-Tape & RAPID-Tape Stacker Arrays

To meet the performance, fault tolerance and capacity needs of demanding video, geophysical and aerospace applications, ANDATACO offers RAPID-Tape arrays for UNIX servers and workstations. A cost effective alternative to expensive 3480, 3490 and D2 tape products; RAPID-Tape arrays incorporate industry standard 4mm, 8mm and Digital Linear Tape (DLT) tape drives as well as advanced Redundant Array of Parallel Independent Devices (RAPID) technology to provide up to four times the capacity and data transfer rate of a single tape drive.

RAPID-Tape includes up to five tape drives and an ANDATACO tape array controller packaged in either a desktop or rackmount enclosure. Together, they can appear to the host or network as a single tape drive with a storage capacity of up to 160GB and a sustained data transfer rate of up to four times the speed of conventional tape drives.

For increased capacity, RAPID-Tape is also available in stacker versions. Incorporating the most popular and reliable stackers, RAPID-Tape stacker arrays allow storage of up to 1.12TB in desktop or rackmount enclosures.

All RAPID-Tape units include a variety of functions that are not available in single tape drives or single stacker units. These functions include the ability to stripe data to two or four drives. Furthermore, all RAPID products are capable of striping with parity for maximum protection of data. Parity allows the recreation of stored data even if one of the tapes should be unavailable or unreadable. The missing or damaged tape can be fully reconstructed off-line, independent from the host.

Another unique function is the ability of each individual drive to be accessed in pass-thru mode utilizing one SCSI ID with multiple LUNs. Each RAPID subsystem includes a powerful set of diagnostics that permit quick detection and isolation of failing components to ensure maximum reliability.

To ensure your RAPID-Tape works reliably for years to come, ANDATACO offers a full suite of support services including Express Exchange, a Help Desk staffed by UNIX experts, as well as On-Site Installation and Maintenance.

      

Summary of Key Features & Benefits

RAPID-Tape Architecture

RAPID-Tape employs an innovative parallel tape architecture similar to RAID architectures offered in disk array products. The ANDATACO Tape Array Controller can stripe data and parity across as many as five drives to provide capacity, data transfer rates and fault tolerance far superior to individual tape drives.

The RAPID-Tape architecture includes a Fast, Wide SCSI-2 host interface allowing for a maximum transfer rate of 20MB/second.

The ANDATACO array controller inside each RAPID-Tape consists of an Array Interface and Array Controller. The array interface provides the connection between the tape drive array and the array controller. The array interface includes five single-ended SCSI tape drive channels, up to four for data and one for parity.

The RAPID-Tape Front Panel consists of a 4-line by 20-character display and a 4-button key pad which allows you to monitor the system as well as select operating modes and invoke off-line operations.

RAPID-Tape Architecture


RAPID-Tape Performance

The RAPID-Tape controller is designed to maximize the throughput of a fast-wide SCSI-2 host interface at 20MB/Second. The actual transfer rate of the RAPID-Tape array will vary depending on a number of factors that may impact performance (see chart below). The chart below illustrates the possible bottlenecks that effect actual backup speeds. RAPID-Tape is a fast backup solution that performs optimally in a fast environment.

Factors Effecting Tape Array Performance


Model 4000 DDS-2 4mm Tape Array Family

  • Intelligent tape striping controller
  • Five DDS-2 Array tape drives
  • Fast-Wide SCSI host interface
  • Maximum data transfer rate of 4 MB/second*
  • Maximum Capacity of 32GB*
  • Striping
  • Striping with Parity
  • Mirroring
  • Crippled Channel Operation
  • Bad Tape Reconstruction
  • Standard 19" rackmount enclosure
  • Redundant power supplies
  • Drive Pass-thru Mode
  • Offline Copy/Verify
  • Diagnostics

    * Assumes 2:1 compression





    Model 8000 8mm Tape Array Family

  • Intelligent tape striping controller
  • Five 8mm tape drives
  • FasT-Wide SCSI host interface
  • Maximum data transfer rate of 4 MB/second*
  • Maximum Capacity of 56 GB*
  • Striping
  • Striping with Parity
  • Mirroring
  • Crippled Channel Operation
  • Bad Tape Reconstruction
  • Standard 19" rackmount enclosure
  • Redundant power supplies
  • Drive Pass-thru Mode
  • Offline Copy/Verify
  • Diagnostics

    * Assumes 2:1 compression





    Model 6000 DLT2000XT Tape Array Family

  • Intelligent tape striping controller
  • Up to five DLT 2000XT tape drives
  • Fast-Wide SCSI host interface
  • Maximum data transfer rate of 10 MB/second*
  • Maximum Capacity of 120 GB*
  • Striping
  • Striping with Parity
  • Mirroring
  • Crippled Channel Operation
  • Bad Tape Reconstruction
  • Enclosure temperature indicator
  • Drive Activity indicators
  • Standard 19" rackmount enclosure
  • Redundant power supplies
  • Drive Pass-thru Mode
  • Offline Copy/Verify
  • Diagnostics

    * Assumes 2:1 compression





    Model 6000 DLT4000 Tape Array Family

  • Intelligent tape striping controller
  • Up to five DLT4000 tape drives
  • Fast-Wide SCSI host interface
  • Maximum data transfer rate of 12 MB/second*
  • Maximum Capacity of 160 GB*
  • Striping
  • Striping with Parity
  • Mirroring
  • Crippled Channel Operation
  • Bad Tape Reconstruction
  • Enclosure temperature indicator
  • Drive Activity indicators
  • Standard 19" rackmount enclosure
  • Redundant power supplies
  • Drive Pass-thru Mode
  • Offline Copy/Verify
  • Diagnostics

    * Assumes 2:1 compression





    RAPID-Tape Array Specifications



    Model 6700 DLT2700XT Tape Stacker Array Family

  • Intelligent tape striping controller
  • Up to five DLT 2700XT tape drive stackers
  • FAST Wide SCSI host interface
  • Maximum data transfer rate of 10 MB/second*
  • Maximum Capacity of 840 GB*
  • Striping
  • Striping with Parity
  • Mirroring
  • Crippled Channel Operation
  • Bad Tape Reconstruction
  • Enclosure temperature indicator
  • Drive Activity indicators
  • Standard 19" rackmount enclosure
  • Redundant power supplies
  • Drive Pass-thru Mode
  • Offline Copy/Verify
  • Diagnostics

    * Assumes 2:1 compression


    Model 6700 DLT4700 Tape Stacker Array Family

  • Intelligent tape striping controller
  • Up to five DLT 4700 tape drive stackers
  • FAST Wide SCSI host interface
  • Maximum data transfer rate of 12 MB/second*
  • Maximum Capacity of 1.12TB*
  • Striping
  • Striping with Parity
  • Mirroring
  • Crippled Channel Operation
  • Bad Tape Reconstruction
  • Enclosure temperature indicator
  • Drive Activity indicators

    * Assumes 2:1 compression


    RAPID-Tape Stacker Array Specifications






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