IBM 3581 Ultrium Tape Autoloader IBM 3581-H17

Overview

The 3581 Ultrium Tape Autoloader is an external, stand-alone or rack-mounted autoloader that incorporates an IBM Ultrium Tape Drive. It attaches to AS/400^®, RS/6000^®, RS/6000 SP™, Netfinity^®, and other UNIX^® and PC servers supporting OS/400^®, AIX^®, Sun Solaris, HP-UX, Windows™ 2000, and Windows NT™ open systems with a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI). The 3581 Ultrium Tape Autoloader capacity is seven tape cartridges, providing a media capacity of up to 700 GB (1.4 TB with 2:1 compression) data storage per library and a sustained data rate of up to 15 MB per second (uncompressed).

In addition to reading and writing on IBM LTO Ultrium-format tape data cartridges, the 3581 provides an excellent migration path from DLT, 4-mm, or 8-mm autoloaders or libraries. The 3581 is a very cost-effective solution for backup, save-and-restore, and archiving functions and is part of a family of IBM Ultrium tape automation solutions.

Product Preview

Future features and capabilities of the 3581 Tape Autoloader that provide additional attachment and functional capabilities will include:

• Fibre Channel — Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) attachmentAs a SCSI-attached tape solution, the IBM 3581 will connect to fibre channel server adapters through selected IBM Storage Area Network Data Gateway products.
• LINUX^® operating system support for open systems servers

Previews provide insight into IBM plans and direction. Specific availability dates, ordering information, and terms and conditions will be provided when the product is announced.

Key Prerequisites

The IBM 3581 Ultrium Tape Autoloader with an IBM LTO Ultrium Tape Drive is supported on selected AS/400, RS/6000, RS/6000 SP, Sun, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and other UNIX and PC servers. The appropriate attachment adapter and software are required.

Planned Availability Dates

• Model L17 and H17: October 20, 2000
• Feature 9400: November 17, 2000

Description

The 3581 is a stand-alone or rack-mounted tape autoloader with a sustained data transfer rate of up to 15 MB per second uncompressed, up to 30 MB with 2:1 compression, depending on the characteristics of the data transferred. The 3581 features data compression hardware that provides an effective capacity of up to 200 GB per cartridge. The 3581 provides a cost-effective solution for save/restore and archiving functions. The number of cartridges is up to seven for a total data capacity of 700 GB native mode, 1.4 TB with 2:1 compression.

The 3581 is server-sized, allowing convenient placement on top of a system server, or two units mounted side-by-side in only 5U of 19-inch rack space. The IBM 3581 Ultrium Tape Autoloader is designed for easy, unattended operation. The 3581 can be operated in sequential or random-access modes. In sequential mode, the 3581 manages cartridge access. In random-access mode, the 3581 relies on application software for cartridge management.

The two 3581 models differ in the interface they provide. Model H17 is equipped with a High-Voltage Differential (HVD) Ultra SCSI interface, and Model L17 is equipped with a Low-Voltage Differential (LVD) Ultra2 SCSI interface. Each model appears as two drives on the SCSI bus. Indicators on the operator’s panel provide status on power, autoloader and drive activity, error status, and message information. Controls provide display, mode, and power controls.

Note: Although the 3581 provides the capability for high tape performance, other components of the system may limit the actual performance achieved. Also, although the compression technology used in the tape drive can typically double the amount of data that can be stored on the media, the actual degree of compression achieved is highly sensitive to the characteristics of the data being compressed.