Tandberg Entering DAT

Tandberg Data has started to sell DAT tape drives and media products through its global distribution channel.

DAT offers small and medium sized business customers affordable and reliable tape backup and restore. Tandberg Data is working closely with HP on the release of DAT320 later this year. Now in its 6th generation, DAT offers an 8 generation roadmap and the largest installed base of any tape technology.

Tandberg DAT tape technology is designed to protect small and medium size business data, offering storage capacities up to 160GB of data on a single cartridge. DAT tape cartridges are small, compact, light-weight and easily transported for offsite storage. Tandberg DAT tape drives are available in a choice of capacities (72GB or 160GB) with a selection of different configurations (internal, external or rackmount) and interfaces (SCSI or USB). The flexibility and choice ensures that the DAT drives can be integrated into most customer environments. Tandberg Data will also sell DAT media. Tandberg DAT data and cleaning cartridges are backed by a limited lifetime warranty.

Tandberg DAT160 supports WORM (Write Once, Read Many) functionality, allowing users to meet regulatory compliance requirements. Government regulations such as SEC and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act have established guidelines on how long data be retained, kept secure and remain unaltered. WORM functionality will offer users cost effective, long term archiving, allowing them to store unaltered data for decades.

DAT drives offer cost-effective backup. With low-cost, durable DAT media, and ongoing low-cost of ownership, DAT drives offer reliable tape backup and archiving to small and medium businesses.

The most successful entry level tape drive
DAT has sold more than 16 million tape drives since its evolution and the current installed base is believed to be in excess of 6 million which makes DAT the most popular and successful tape technology ever.

As the tape market consolidates and older tape technologies are retired, two tape technologies will dominate; DAT and LTO. The DAT drives support a large installed base, the USB interface and ease of use will continue to make DAT the preferred choice for entry-level and low-end users. LTO will continue to support the needs of those users that require higher capacity and performance.

Customer Choice
Tandberg Data is committed to offering small and medium businesses a complete choice of tape and disk based data protection solutions. Tandberg RDX QuikStor is an entry-level removable disk technology, offering capacity points from 80GB to 500GB, while DAT provides entry-level tape backup technology, offering capacity points from 72GB to 160GB.

Mid-range customers with higher storage and performance requirements can utilize Tandberg LTO tape drive and tape automation solutions for offsite storage and archiving. Mid-range customers that need to minimize downtime and improve manageability should opt for a Tandberg Data virtual tape library (VTL), the DPS1000 Series, which was introduced this summer.

Availability and Pricing
The DAT72 and DAT160 drives are now available through Tandberg Data’s established channel of distributor and reseller partners. The DAT72 drive starts at an Estimated Street Price (ESP) of $499, and the ESP for the DAT160 starts at $749, which includes a 3 year warranty and 1 year Advanced Replacement Service.