Addressing some of the myth surrounding magneto-optical (MO) technology, Sony Electronics has announced a next generation product capable of storing 5.2GB of data on a single 5.25-inch cartridge and offering hard disk-like performance. Bill Nixon, sales manager in southern Africa for Sony Electronic Devices` computer peripherals division, says the new Sony SMO-F551 boasts performance characteristics usually associated with hard disk drive technology in a removable format. Chris Roux, MD of local Sony master distributor, Intelligent Systems, concurs. "Hard disk and tape drive vendors have for years perpetuated the perception that MO is expensive, lacks performance and is not durable," he says. "An average seek time of 9.6ms and data transfer rates in excess of 4MB/sec will lay to rest once and for all the myth that magneto-optical (MO) technology can`t offer high-performance at an affordable cost per GB." Roux also points out that Sony`s new product offers media life exceeding 50 years. "Disks for the new drive are certified for 10-million read/write passes," he says. Sony`s SMO-F551 retains backward compatibility with ISO-compliant 2.6GB, 1.3GB and 650MB cartridges while offering users a choice of write-once or rewriteable media. Its half-height 5.25-inch form factor and SCSI-2 interface makes capable of being attached to almost any computer. By virtue of its near-hard drive speed access to 5.2GB of data, archival capability, reliability and portability - the new drive is ideal for data-intensive applications such as document and medical imaging, prepress, multimedia, graphics, design and audio/video editing. Roux says that plans are in place to offer a permanent Write Once Read Many (WORM) model that delivers write once recording in an ISO-standard 5.25-inch format later this year. "This tri-functional unit will provide read and write compatibility with 2.6GB WORM, MO and CCW media." The SMO-F551 also provides exceptional reliability with a Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) of 100,000 power on hours and an MSBF (Mean Swaps Between Failure) of 750,000. It feature`s Sony`s buffering/caching algorithm (4MB S-Cache) and spins at 3,300 rpm. This enables it to provide data transfer rates of up to 5MB/sec (sustained) and burst transfer rate of 10MB/sec as well as an average seek time when reading MO and CCW media of 25 milliseconds and 150 milliseconds when reading permanent WORM media on the WORM model. Nixon says the new drive is the next step in a programme which will see more than 10GB of data stored on a single cartridge. "Feedback from our laboratories has indicated that capacity and performance will improve by a factor of two by the turn of the century," he concludes. For additional information about Sony storage products, call local master distributor Intelligent Systems on (011) 315-3120 or Sony SA on (011) 620-8100. Alternatively, visit Sony`s World Wide Web site at http://www.sony.com/storagebysony.
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