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Sony SDX-300 Series AIT Value-Added
Tape Solutions
Product Information
The Performance Leader
With optimized information access features, the Advanced Intelligent
Tape (AIT) Drive was invented by Sony to handle the upcoming explosion
of data storage management. In businesses around the globe, there is an
immediate need for cost-effective, high-speed, large-capacity tape storage
that can reliably back up large-scale network servers handling huge volumes
of images and other storage-intensive data. To meet this growing business
demand, Sony has unveiled new
standards in tape storage technology.
Features
Performance
50 Gigabyte Capacity
AIT was developed by Sony for the purpose of efficiently and reliably storing large amounts of data. The SDX drives and media, aided by the Advanced Metal Evaporated (AME) tape formulation, achieve a capacity of 25 GB (native), 50 GB (compressed)* on a single AIT data cartridge.
6.0 MB/s Data Transfer Rate
AIT incorporates Fast/Wide SCSI technology with a 68-pin single-ended interface to maximize data transfer rates up to 3.0 MB/s (native), 6.0 MB/s compressed)* and burst rates of 20 MB/s to and from the host system.
Superior ALDC Data Compression
AIT incorporates IBM's Advanced Lossless Data Compression (ALDC) technology
to provide state-of-the-art performance and capacity features. The ALDC
compression chip, which was previously only available in mainframe type
tape drives, can offer an average data compression ratio of 2.6:1 across
multiple data
types, compared to 2.0:1 with older IDRC or DLZ compression algorithms.
Efficient Data Management with MIC
When designing AIT, Sony recognized the need to improve the overall drive performance and incorporated a revolutionary 16 kbit EEPROM flash memory chip within the data cartridge. This is the first time that such a feature, which Sony named Memory-in-Cassette (MIC), has been utilized in a computer tape peripheral. MIC is used to store the tape's data log, history and other user-definable information. The benefits of MIC include the following:
1. Faster access to data
2. Predictive diagnosis of media
degradation
3. Faster and more reliable access
to volume serial information
4. Greater data integrity through
a fault-tolerant system log
5. Enhanced media security with
MIC-stored decryption codes
These features make AIT the first tape technology with near-online class speed.
*Specifications reflect 2:1 data compression. MTBF, head life and
media use specifications are averages based on normal office
environmental conditions. Actual experience may vary.
Reliability
AIT Drive Durability
Sony AIT provides over 30,000 hours of head life.* This feature is reached through the incorporation of Sony's redesigned Metal-In-Gap (MIG) tape head which uses a unique geometry for reduced head/media pressure. In addition, AIT tape tension control maintains tape tension at less than one-half that of other competing technologies. This feature senses and controls tension fluctuations to reduce tape and head wear. Overall, Sony AIT drives provide an industry-leading Mean Time Between Failure, MTBF of 200,000 hours.*
Active Head Cleaner
In conventional drives, cleaning is required periodically to remove
the contamination that accumulates on the read/write heads. AIT is designed
to only recognize and use the extremely durable AME media which provides
a virtually contamination-free operating environment. In the event that
the AIT drive senses errors due to
contamination, Sony's patented Active Head Cleaner is activated to
remove the debris, without user or application intervention.
AIT Tape Durability
The AIT tape cartridge uses Sony's Advanced Metal Evaporated (AME) media technology, which incorporates pure cobalt metallization with a super-durable "Diamond-Like Carbon" (DLC) coating. This feature decreases error rates and increases tape durability to an average of 30,000 media uses.*
*Specifications reflect 2:1 data compression. MTBF, head life and
media use specifications are averages based on normal office
environmental conditions. Actual experience may vary.
Product Matrix
| Part Number: | SDX-S300C/BM | SDX-S300C/BB | SDX-S300C/ES |
| High-Tech # | T30S989 | T30S447 | T30S635 |
| Drive Type | External AIT Single Ended Drive | External AIT Single Ended Drive | External AIT Single Ended Drive |
| StorageCapacity | 25-50 GB* | 25-50 GB* | 25-50 GB* |
| Extended Warranty | 3 Year | 3 Year | 3 Year |
| Express Services | 24 hour swap program available | 24 hour swap program available | 24 hour swap program available |
| Accessories Included | 2 SDX-T3C data cartridges with 16kbit EEPROM | 2 SDX-T3C data cartridges with 16kbit EEPROM | 2 SDX-T3C data cartridges with 16kbit EEPROM |
| User's Guide | User's Guide | User's Guide | |
| Power Cord | Power Cord | Power Cord | |
| 3 foot 68-pin to 68-pin male SCSI cable | 3 foot 68-pin to 68-pin male SCSI cable | ||
| Active Terminator | Active Terminator | ||
| Quick Start Cards | Quick Start Cards | ||
| Sony Device Driver for Microsoft ®
Windows NT® 4.0 |
Cheyenne® ARCserve® 6.1 for
Microsoft Windows NT, NetWare® Enterprise Edition and InocuLan® Anti-virus protection all on one CD. |
||
Product Specifications
Drive Type
**Limited warranty. Restrictions apply. See warranty card for details.
Nonmetric weights and measurements are approximate.
Cheyenne, ARCserve and InocuLAN are trademarks of
Computer Associates, Inc. Windows and Windows NT are
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. NetWare is a trademark of
Novell, Inc. DLT is a trademark of Quantum Corporation.
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