eStorage Boosts AIT-3 Tape Speeds on iSeries with Embedded Emulation

by Alex Woodie

eStorage says data-transfer speeds have more than doubled for its Sony AIT-3 tape subsystem connected to iSeries servers. The Irvine, California, company, which purchased the OS/400 storage business of BCC Technologies earlier this year, says it has clocked transfer speeds in excess of 110 GB per hour with its new 9192 single-drive AIT-3 tape subsystem, thanks to new tape emulation software embedded in the device, instead of residing on an external controller card.

eStorage worked with Sony to develop the new emulation capabilities for the third generation of Sony's Advanced Intelligent Tape (AIT-3) technology. eStorage, which also sells LTO and DLT tape technology, is the only known provider of AIT tape drives for the OS/400 platform, in much the same way that eStorage is the only source of internal iSeries disk outside of IBM.

Officials with eStorage say the new emulation capability, which is only available with AIT-3 drives, removes the bottleneck that now occurs at the tape drive when a newer model tape drive is connected to one of the new iSeries servers equipped with the high speed bus.

The older AS/400 I/O bus usually topped out at around 50 GB per hour, says John Gimpl, executive vice president at eStorage. But the new generation of iSeries Model 8XX servers has a much-improved I/O structure that is capable of much faster speeds. However, the controller card sold with the previous generation AIT tape products also topped out at about 50 GB per hour. So eStorage worked with Sony to attach the new AIT-3 drives directly to an iSeries. The iSeries servers recognize the AIT-3 tape drives as a 3570 Magstar tape drive from IBM; the new AIT-3 tape drives have comparable performance to the IBM Magstars, Gimpl says.

Depending on the application, data-transfer rates for iSeries-attached AIT-3 tape drives using the new embedded emulation have doubled. Gimpl says the transfer speeds have been clocked as high as 117 GB per hour on a large 8XX box; he's seen smaller Model 270s with the same I/O structure clock in at around 80 to 90 GB per hour. Under ideal conditions, the 9192 single-drive AIT-3 tape subsystem could transfer data with an iSeries at up to 128 GB per hour. Sony's AIT-3 drives offer 100 GB of native capacity per cartridge (up to 260 GB with 2.6:1 compression) and data transfer rates of up to 31.2 MB per second, with compression.

The 9192 single-drive AIT-3 tape subsystem will provide numerous benefits to iSeries shops besides speed, says Keith Sugawara, president of eStorage. "The previous solution required a controller board to provide the iSeries compatibility," Sugawara says. "With this new offering, that emulation is now embedded in the drive itself, so it's a more reliable solution, given there's not additional hardware associated with it. It's a smaller form factor, and, more important, we're able to offer this at a lower price point."

Through June 30, eStorage is selling its 9192 single-drive AIT-3 tape subsystem for $4,995. Beginning July 1, the price returns to $6,100. For more information, go to www.estorageinc.com.

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