The tape storage battle is heating up and local storage expert Systems Integration is backing a dark horse as the next big tape technology: the Mammoth standard from Exabyte.
"Mammoth 1 struggled to differentiate itself," notes John Hope-Bailie, technology director, Systems Integration. "We are expecting a reverse between Mammoth 2 and Super DLT," he notes. While Super DLT could be as much as six months away, Mammoth 2 is already in production and Mammoth 3 is expected to be ready by the end of 2001, featuring a 24Mbps data rate.
Mammoth 1 lost out to DLT, believes Hope-Bailie, due to its delay in development, coming out after the DLT standard had already established itself in the market.
Mammoth optionally supports a native fibre channel interface, although Hope-Bailie notes: "Not everyone will want this feature." It will also include a media auxiliary chip, similar to Sony's memory in cassette technology it included in its AIT format.
Hope-Bailie believes that a major advantage of Exabyte's technology is its drive and library design, which he believes is superior to other tape vendors. The tapes themselves are in the advanced metal evaporated tape format, and are backward compatible with 8mm tape metal particle technology. Mammoth claims that by using these industry standards, its drives will be able to read "millions of existing 8mm tape cartridges".
The Mammoth cartridges also incorporate a small length of cleaning tape, which eliminates the need for separate cleaning cartridges. Exabyte estimates a 30-year shelf life for its tapes.
Most likely the biggest contender for the tape throne is the newcomer, LTO. Started by Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Seagate, the company has seen great industry support for its Ultrium and Accelis standards, with Sony the latest surprise member of the consortium, licensing the Ultrium format from the group. "We are watching LTO with interest," says Hope-Bailie.
The tape library vendors are unsure as to the future of tape and are hedging their bets by offering most standards in their racks. "In the past five years we haven't seen a dominant player," notes Hope-Bailie.
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