Tarsus spearheads local LTO drive

In the wake of its storage distribution partnership with IBM, Tarsus Technologies, the value-add distribution arm of JSE-listed MB Technologies, has announced its intention to go to market with LTO (Linear Tape Open) storage technology.

LTO is described as an open standards-based solution that brings unprecedented levels of reliability, capacity and performance to scalable automation for open systems tape backup. The technology is ideal for a wide-range of systems streaming data environments such as backup or archive.

Tarsus Technologies is very much aware of the enormous growth currently taking place within the storage market. According to Tarsus` IBM Business Unit Manager Ross Matthee, the company is well positioned to help customers take advantage.

"The team is geared up to distribute, support, service and install this technology. We may face some resistance from the higher-end of the spectrum in terms of initial costs, but this should die away when the value is perceived. As entry-level technology for the lower end, LTO is definitely priced to go.

"We have just returned from a conference that took place in San Francisco and it is very clear that there is a strong move towards LTO as far as data is concerned. International projections suggest an 18% to 24% annual market growth. Global market players definitely see the value in adapting towards this new storage technology. There is no doubt that the South African market is curious about LTO and are keen to leverage off opportunities," adds Matthee.

Linear Tape Open technology is representative of a joint initiative between HP, Seagate, Compaq and IBM, and is based on existing and proven architecture with components developed by IBM. The technology has continuously been developed since its inception in November 1997.

LTO is targeted at the open server, wired area network (WAN), network-attached storage (NAS) and storage area network (SAN) markets. The technology has the capacity to handle common data exchange and its business value is attached to increased automation, customer choice, data protection, reliability, scalability and speed.

Increased automation translates into lower costs because of a reduction in personnel costs. Customers also have a choice of suppliers. Most significantly, data, as the most important asset in business, is fully protected.

The joint initiative between Tarsus Technologies and IBM to drive home the benefits of LTO is based on what both party`s see as a retrospective change in IT thinking in terms of information share, security and data exchange.

Businesses are concentrating heavily on data transfer capability, security, storage, backups and disaster recovery. This widespread concern and cautious approach is largely attributed to the Twin Tower attacks in New York in September.

Tarsus Technologies are looking to move a number of various LTO models to market. These include the LTO 3580 ServerTop, the LTO 3581 Unit, IBM`s 3583 Ultrium and the 3584 Ultra scalable Library.