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Solid State Disks Launched SCSIFlash-Tape

CompactFlash-based solid state replacement for tape drives

Solid State Disks Ltd launched SCSIFlash-Tape which provides a CompactFlash-based, solid state replacement for traditional SCSI-based, electro-mechanical tape drives on legacy computer-based systems that are either obsolete or nearing the end of their life.

SSD_SCSIFlash-Tape_1SCSIFlash-Tape provides a drop-in replacement for the DDS DAT, DLT and QIC tape drives on a variety of host systems.

It is suited for use in legacy computer-based systems in a range of industries and applications including telecommunications, semiconductor manufacturing, industrial process control, engineering and manufacturing, power generation, oil and gas, military and aerospace, flight simulation and post-production.

SCSIFlash-Tape gives OEMs and service providers a quick, easy and cost efficient solution for supporting their legacy systems. It is configurable firmware allows a host match, eliminating the need for any host hardware or software changes. With no software updates or integration required, the host simply sees SCSIFlash-Tape as if it were the original tape drive.

Offering a fast field replacement, SCSIFlash-Tape’s configurable firmware, which is field upgradeable via an integral USB port, facilitates a match to any host computer system. TCP/IP networking via standard RJ45 Ethernet connection is also supported, allowing SCSIFlash-Tape to be connected to any existing LAN for remote configuration, control, diagnostics, backup and restore.

SCSIFlash-Tape requires a 5V power supply and will also fit into a standard floppy disk drive slot using the same fixings. With a 3.5-inch footprint and using a standard 50 pin SCSI-1 or SCSI-2 connection, it can be used to replace obsolete 3.5-inch and any larger tape drive using a suitable adaptor. Data transfer rates are up to 6MBs/s sustained. The use of solid state technology also delivers increased MTBF and media life, improved environmental efficiency with lower power consumption, noise and heat generation, and a reduction in unplanned downtime.

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SSD_dec-tlz10_gui

It is also available as a network drive upgrade with IP address set up at the factory. This ships complete with company’s FLASH2GUI GUI used for control and configuration of the drive as well as backup and restore operations. FLASH2GUI features multiple login levels to prevent unauthorised use and backup and restore based on the disk image, as well as write protection and erase of the drive contents, along with the ability to set the disk capacity from 1Mb to 64GB, set the drive emulation and the drive’s IP address and name remotely. The image editor controls the backup and restore functionality and includes the ability to view the drive image contents, extract files, folders or the entire disk contents, add and remove files and folders from the disk, add new software install files, and create a new formatted drive.

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SSD_scsiflash_cli_gui5
The mechanical life-span of a tape drive can be dramatically shortened by continual tape repositioning (shoe-shining) usually caused by the mismatches in the data transfer performance between the tape drive and the host computer,” said James Hsales, director, Solid State Disks. “This results in tape debris constantly clogging the gaps between tape heads. As a solid state drive with no moving parts, SCSIFlash-Tape provides the ideal plug and play replacement solution.

Example tape drive emulations include:

  • Archive Viper 150 and Python 4320

  • DEC TZ86, TZ87 and TZ8; TLZ06, TLZ07, TLZ09, TLZ10 and TLZ88; TK50 and TK7; TZK9, TK10 andTK11

  • DDS DAT and DLT drives – HP C1533/C1539

  • HP/DEC ‘Storage Works’ tape drives

  • QIC

  • Seagate STD22400N and SDT11000

Example host systems and equipment include:

  • Alcatel-Lucent 5ESS/HP C1533/C1539

  • DEC VAX 400, VAX station 4000-90A, VS4000, uVAX and MicroVAX

  • IBM RS6000 and iSeries AS400

  • HP 9000/HP 715

  • Ericsson AXE-10

  • Nortel DMS-10 NTJIT69A

  • NEC NEAX SIGMA 61E/61S

  • Siemens EWSD HP88781AA/HP2940A

  • Stromberg-Carleson DCO SDT-11000

  • Telebras Tropico

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