30 Minute Interview

“A disk-tape hybrid offers performance and affordability”

Mike Sparkes Product Marketing Manager Quantum Asia Pacific

Quantum has been on an acquisition spree. How has it benefited your company?

Acquiring Certance and Benchmark puts us in a better position in terms of tape drive technology. Our product range and the customer base that we have gained have made us the leaders in the autoloaders segment. We have been able to use the feedback from users we gained through these acquisitions and incorporated it into a new product called SuperLoader 3. In this product we have been able to provide a feature-rich autoloader at the cost of an entry-level product.

Tell us about the launch of PX500 tape drives.

After the launch of the M-Series, our engineers came up with the PX500 autoloader. The laser barcode reader has been replaced with a camera system that recognises different kinds of media. One of the benefits of using smaller loaders is that we get larger density, so in the same size library the user gets 50 percent more cartridges. We have reduced the cost and improved the ability to stack with the help of FlexLink. This technology negates the need for external hardware or cabling, and instead uses infrared and self-alignment technology for communication and set-up between units. Moreover, units can be added or removed in minutes with no additional hardware or cabling, and without taking the entire system offline.

Is the PX500 series targeted at SMBs?

The PX500 series consists of PX502, PX506 and PX510. Although this is a mid-range product, PX510 addresses the 100- to 200-slot sector of the market, which is probably the most active. Previously, enterprises would have used very large libraries with some of the high capacity autoloader and tape drive technologies such as the LTO 3 and Super DLT 600. Now PX510 addresses this segment too.

What’s on the DLT roadmap?

With the acquisition of Certance we have acquired other tape technologies. In addition to SDLT, we are now manufacturers of LTO, DDS and DAT. That said, we maintain the DLT roadmap. We have just released the DLT-V4 that brings more than 300 gigabytes of cartridges and 20 Mbps that two years ago would have been an enterprise requirement.

Quantum has both LTO and DLT tape drives. How do you sell these competing technologies?

LTO is about performance. The current LTO 3 can transfer 80 Mbps natively. DLT technology, on the other hand, can deliver higher capacity. LTO is going to be our performance product and DLT the capacity one. LTO can be used for direct backup and this suits about 80 percent of businesses.

Those who want to move from backup to disk still need to move the data to tape for the long-term. The principal attribute they are looking at here is high capacity—and DLT could be of use.

Where does your virtual tape library fit in?

We have a disk-based product called the Virtual Tape Library that emulates tape. It is an intermediary product. Traditionally, backup was taken on tape as it was cheap and offered high capacity, whereas disk was expensive for similar capacities. With disk prices going down, organisations are ready to move some backup to disk. With emphasis on backup due to regulations like Sarbanes-Oxley coming into play, disk manufacturers saw the potential of disk-based backup. We do say that there is no need to have an argument of disk vs. tape. A hybrid solution delivers all the performance and capabilities of backup to disk and all the long-term storage and affordability of backup to tape.

With increasing disk backup options, will tape become obsolete?

For long-term storage, tape is the only option. Tape is going to be around for a long time. It is the only medium that can fit into DR requirements. We are saying to SMBs that instead of buying the latest tape drives, buy technology that suits your requirement. For instance, instead of buying an LTO 3 tape drive, it would be better if they buy LTO 2 in a SuperLoader.

How does an organisation choose between drives?

If you are a DLT user, we would suggest that you continue with DLT. If you are an LTO user and using somebody else’s product, then continue with the same. But if you are planning to start from scratch and you will be taking backup on disk and then to tape, we suggest the use of DLT. If you are going straight to tape libraries then choose LTO. We also do the DDS drive, but they are designed for a few hours of backup.

Though LTO has three manufacturers, each has its own specifications. One of the advantages of DLT is in archiving data. DLT has internal software tools such as DLTSage which does a lot of pre-emption of files and provides post-failure log analysis data; this is very important for an organisation with a large number of backups to manage. It also has DLTIce or WORM technology. When it comes to WORM, DLT has definite advantages over LTO. If you buy an LTO 3 drive you need to buy cartridges and decide how many of them are to be used for backup and how many for secure archive since they are different. Then you need to buy software which will keep them separate.

Quantum has been concentrating on the enterprise segment for long. Would the strategy remain the same or is it changing?

Sunny John, Country Manager: With our recent acquisitions we have got hold of a range of technologies and products which will let us enter the market at attractive price points. Our visibility has grown, awareness has increased, and hence we have decided to move into the high-volume business with Quantum branded drives. We plan to be in all the technology areas—DDS, LTO, DLT, etc.

Secondly, with the introduction of SuperLoader 3 at a competitive price, we plan to flood the market with low-priced automation products.

Wipro and HCL are our partners, and we have added Redington as a distributor. We will be adding some more partners in distribution, and recruiting smaller retailers. Our strategy for the small retailers is that if they want to work with us we will certify them and give them access to products. We will convert many box-pushers into solution selling companies. We have also bundled Symantec and Veritas backup software with our products. This will give our channel partners an edge in technology and allow them to offer products according to the needs of the organisation.

—Shivani Shinde