IBM's New VX2 Tape Drive Offers OS/400 Shops an Alternative to QIC

by Alex Woodie

IBM recently started shipping a new entry-level tape drive for OS/400 servers, the 7206 Model VX2. Based on Exabyte's 8mm VXA-2 drives, IBM's 7206 Model VX2 offers native capacities of up to 80 GB, transfer rates of up to 6 MB per second, and the capability to withstand abuse, thanks to its discrete packet technology and overlapping heads. For OS/400 shops, IBM is positioning the new drive as a desirable alternative to older 4mm and quarter-inch-cartridge (QIC) drives.

Although it has been shipping on IBM's Unix and Windows servers for some time, the 7206 Model VX2 is new to AS/400 and iSeries servers. The Ultra2 SCSI LVD-based, streaming tape drive can be attached internally to an OS/400 server or an I/O tower, or can be attached as an external, stand-alone drive, via a separate controller. VX2 tape cartridges are available in three sizes, ranging from 21 GB to 80 GB, which doubles when 2:1 compression is turned on.

Topping out at around 6 MB per second, the VXA-2 is not fast drive technology, by SDLT or LTO standards. But what it lacks in speed it makes up with durability and price, says Kelly Beavers, Exabyte's vice president of marketing.

"The VXA-2 uses a different packet-based format that eliminates a lot of the mechanical precision that's required to write data and read it back with very high reliability," he says. Other features designed to contribute to durability and redundancy are its overlapping leading and trailing tape heads and a four-layer error-correction system (compared with the three-layer systems used in competing products). Slowing the drive also helps read tapes that may have been damaged, Beavers says.

To check the durability of the VXA-2 drive--which is identical to the drive that IBM sells as the VX2, via an OEM agreement, except for some different buttons and firmware--Exabyte subjected VXA-2 media to a variety of tests. The tapes were boiled in hot water, immersed in beakers filled with hot coffee, and frozen in solid blocks of ice, Beavers says, all in an attempt to distort the tracks and render the tapes unreadable. After drying the tapes off, they were still readable, he says.

"It's very rugged," Beavers says. "Any kind of environment that won't kill your computer, won't kill your tape. Actually, it will go quite a bit beyond your computer." That's saying quite a bit, considering some of the environmental catastrophes that AS/400 and iSeries servers have reportedly weathered over the years.

IBM is positioning the VX2 drive as a good choice for OS/400 shops that are using smaller 4mm or QIC drives and need more capacity, but don't require higher priced 8mm drives (such as Sony AIT format drives, which are available on the iSeries from eStorage and Cybernetics). In its announcement letter, IBM says the 7206 Model VX2 is a good replacement for its 7207 QIC drives.

IBM started shipping the external Model 7206 VX2 on June 13. IBM's list price for the device is $2,995. However, if you ask them, IBM's sales representatives may be willing to lower that price, since Exabyte's VXA-2 drives are commonly sold at CDW.com for a tad more than $900. The drives require OS/400 V5R1 and later. Media costs range from $47 for the 21 GB cartridge, to $100 for the 59 GB cartridge, and $168 for the 80 GB cartridge.

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