Quantum has Shipped 20,000 Scalar i500 Tape Libraries

Quantum Corp. has shipped 20,000 Scalar i500 Series tape libraries. This important milestone, achieved in just over two and a half years since the product’s introduction, further validates Quantum’s tape automation leadership as well as its position as the leading independent supplier of integrated and scalable disk, tape, software and system management solutions. The achievement also underscores the continued value of automated tape technologies as a critical and cost-effective element of customers’ data protection, long-term retention and disaster recovery strategies.

The Scalar i500 combines a highly scalable design and Quantum’s advanced, integrated iLayer management features that together deliver flexibility and unrivaled manageability in heterogeneous, data-intensive environments at both the midrange and enterprise level. These powerful iLayer features include tools that provide IT managers with detailed reports on tape media integrity and reliability as well as enabling customers to optimize the Scalar i500 workload across tape drives by providing historical and trending analysis.

As a testament to the rapid adoption of the Scalar i500, a large number of the Global 500 rely on the system for high-performance and reliable backup of business-critical data and secure, long-term data retention. Examples of these customer installations, which can encompass hundreds of Scalar i500 systems deployed around the world, include a leading global oil and gas producer, a major media and entertainment conglomerate, a top innovator of mobile, desktop and data center computing, and some of the largest governmental organizations.

The Cornerstone Group of Companies, Canada’s leading provider of prospecting, database management and data integration solutions, is a direct example of the significant return on investment (ROI) achieved through the deployment of Scalar i500 systems. According to Alex Trouchine, IT manager at Cornerstone Group, the Scalar i500 has greatly reduced backup and restore times, been instrumental in freeing core IT resources, and met the organization’s goal of implementing a more comprehensive disaster recovery strategy.

"The Quantum Scalar i500 systems provide the scalability, performance and reliability our customers require — allowing us to start small and expand gradually as our requirements grow," said Trouchine. "We were particularly amazed by the increase in the speed of our backups using the Scalar i500. During testing, both i500 units performed perfectly, validating the strength of our overall disaster recovery plan. Since then we have experienced many months of flawless backups in our production environment with no tape failures and no hardware malfunctions."

The Scalar i500 is designed to meet a diverse range of backup needs, offering users the flexibility to match the size of the system with their environment, and also reduce the time spent managing their tape resources. This flexibility also allows the Scalar i500 to complement disk-based backup systems including Quantum’s DXi portfolio of data de-duplication and replication solutions. In addition, the Scalar i500 can be centrally administered, along with all Quantum disk and tape systems, through the Quantum Vision global management and reporting software.

"As customers demand higher capacity, greater performance and more advanced management features across their tape systems, this shipment milestone underscores Quantum’s focus on intelligent tape library design," said Todd Farley, product marketing manager, tape automation systems for Quantum. "Not all customer needs are the same, but Quantum customers using the Scalar i500 are experiencing real ROI with their deployments. Backup processes that could previously take days to complete can be cut down to hours. Companies like Cornerstone Group are spending less time managing their libraries which is freeing up resources and allowing their businesses to flourish."

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