IBM ships Ultrium LTO drives

IBM has become the first vendor to start shipping the long-awaited Ultrium Linear Tape-Open drives, and hopes the combination of low prices and multi-vendor compatibility will storm the storage market.

IBM has become the first vendor to start shipping the long-awaited Ultrium Linear Tape-Open (LTO) drives, and hopes the combination of low prices and multi-vendor compatibility will storm the storage market.

However, the vendor has played down the opportunity for adding value to the product, saying distributors will benefit most from shifting them in volume.

In a policy U-turn that flies in the face of decades of business practice, IBM claimed to have pioneered this technology with an open standards approach geared to freeing competition and driving down prices.

Dick Replogle, IBM's European tape systems sales manager, said: "Quantum has had the linear tape market to itself for 10 years. It's time we had some competition and drove the prices down."

But he appeared uninterested in the notion of third parties adding value through consultancy, installation and support. He described the market in terms of brutal price competition and box shifting.

"We are going to drive down prices over time, which will create massive demand and bring more money in for distributors," he said.

IBM formed a three-way partnership with Hewlett Packard and Seagate to create LTO. Replogle said the goal is for any component from any manufacturer to be able to communicate with any other.

The cost of this new storage system has been estimated at one cent per megabyte. The technology can store data at a rate of 30Mbps. According to Replogle, this will revitalise the demand for tape storage.

Researcher IDC estimated that the market for automated tape storage will be worth $5bn by 2005.

IDC storage analyst Zarah Damji said that by getting LTO products to market, IBM could make vital inroads before a rival technology - Super DLT - is unveiled.

"In environments which need high-speed automated storage, IBM could make significant gains. It depends how quickly they can establish a reputation for reliability, where the channel could play a crucial part," said Damji.