HP and Sony developing next generation DAT tech | | 2008-07-15 | | HP and Sony are to develop the seventh generation of DAT tape technology, DAT 320.
DAT 320 will have backup speeds of up to 86GB per hour with 2:1 data compression. Each cartridge will offer up to 320 GB of capacity, double that for the existing AT 160 format.
Although a joint development, the two companies will market their own DAT 320 tape drives and cartridges, though the drives themselves will be interchangeable.
For many small and midsized businesses, tape archives remain a key component of their disaster recovery strategies as well as offering a cost-effective storage solution to handle the massive increase in digital data. IDC estimates the tape market will be worth $1.4 billion in 2009.
According to IDC research director Robert Amatruda ""Tape customers are concerned about outgrowing their existing tape drives and do not want to switch away from a cost-effective and trusted technology like DAT/DDS,"
"The use of tape storage to support backup and archiving is very popular and the doubled capacity with the DAT 320 will be an ideal choice for small to midsized businesses who have limited space for extra hardware."
No firm release date has yet been given beyond "some point in 2009"; The two companies will be releasing their individual versions independently.
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