1 Beyond Thunderbolt LTO-6 Storage Solution for Mac Shipping

1 Beyond, Inc., in purpose-built professional video systems, announced that the ThunderTape 2, a Thunderbolt-connected LTO-6 drive with second device option, is shipping.

ThunderTape 2 is the company’s latest addition to its family of LTO archive solutions and is for the entry-level Macintosh user or small post-facility wanting a simple way to connect a tape drive to an existing Macintosh for the cost-effective LTO backup solution.

It succeeds the single LTO drive 1 Beyond ThunderTape which was introduced in April, 2013 as a Thunderbolt LTO tape drive for Macintosh. By working with customers with different workflow requirements, 1 Beyond learned that most customers wanted more than a single LTO drive and therefore developed the ThunderTape 2 follow-on. Mac users with expansion needs can upgrade to the recently-announced 1 Beyond ThunderMAX expansion chassis.

The 1ThunderTape 2 connects via Thunderbolt 2 to any Mac with Thunderbolt port. In its base configuration, it includes a single LTO-6 drive and an empty bay which can be configured with an additional device when shipped or later as requirements dictate.

It ships with LTFS drivers and a copy utility optimized for browsing and copying files to/from LTO tape which overcomes the limitation finder has with LTO/LTFS tapes.

Like the original ThunderTape, the ThunderTape 2 is housed in an all metal, rugged portable chassis with a handle on top.

The second bay can be configured to hold:

• A second LTO drive, either LTO-5 or LTO-6
• A 4TB SAS high performance disk
• A 1 Beyond GoHDCart removable disk cartridge (HDD or SSD)
• Up to four 2.5″ SSD or HDD configured in OS X as a RAID for fast performance

The second LTO tape drive gives these advantages:

• Parallel copy to two tapes in one pass which saves time when wanting duplicate tapes.
• Simultaneous reading from one tape drive while writing to another which enables a facility to retrieve from tape while continuing backup jobs.
• Migration from one LTO generation to another by putting tape drives of different generations in the two slots for maximum range of tape formats that can be read/written.

The additional storage can be used for things including:

• Extra storage to work from and archive to as no one ever has enough storage.
• Archiving across a network with the ThunderTape 2 as a repository for files to be archived. Note, an LTO drive alone cannot be shared.
• Removable drive option giving on-set DITs a way to backup to tape and HDD and give both to the client.

1 Beyond has been shipping LTO solutions since before LTFS came out and is a strategic partner of IBM and HP for the media and entertainment industry. In addition, it developed the specially-configured compliance checker for Discovery Communications to automate incoming inspection for the new LTO file-based footage delivery specifications.

ThunderTape 2 adds to the line of 1 Beyond LTO backup solutions that includes:

• For the PC: the 1 Beyond NetDrive, 1 Beyond Wrangler, and 1 Beyond FlexVTR
• For the Mac: the new ThunderTape 2 and the ThunderMax, which provides PCI-e slots and device options for those needing more Thunderbolt expansion.
• Robotic tape libraries with the 1 Beyond EzStor controller which presents an LTFS Tape Library as NAS storage.

The ThunderTape 2 with an LTO-6 drive is $3,895. Additional drive or storage is priced separately.

As part of this announcement, 1 Beyond is offering a $100 discount off ImagineProducts PreRollPost purchased with the ThunderTape 2.