Quantum Corporation announced its new Scalar i7 RAPTOR LTO magnetic tape storage system is now available.
For more information visit: www.quantum.com
Unedited press release follows:
Quantum Scalar i7 RAPTOR Now Available
Innovative tape solution delivers up to 200% higher storage density and advanced serviceability, sustainability and security for cloud infrastructure and data lakes
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Quantum Corporation (NASDAQ: QMCO) today announced the availability of the Scalar® i7 RAPTOR, the latest advancement in tape storage technology tailored to support growing AI and cloud use cases. Originally announced in March of this year, the Scalar i7 RAPTOR is designed for hyperscale customers, managed service providers (MSPs), and large enterprises and is the densest, most scalable tape solution on the market. As organizations look to retain more data than ever for AI, analysis, and business insights, this new offering gives customers an ultra-low cost, green, and secure solution for data lakes, data protection, and private and hybrid cloud deployments.
“IDC expects the surging demand for AI workloads will lead to a significant increase in datacenter capacity, energy consumption, and carbon emissions, with AI datacenter capacity projected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40.5% through 2027,” said Greg Macatee, research manager, Infrastructure Systems, Platforms and Technologies Group at IDC. “With this increase of energy consumption, enterprises require new and innovative infrastructure to improve power and datacenter efficiency.”
Features and Benefits of the Scalar i7 RAPTOR:
Highest Storage Density, Lowest Costs
The Scalar i7 RAPTOR is a significant advancement in storage density, up to 200% better than traditional scale-up enterprise libraries and up to 82% better compared to newer scale-out high-density libraries. The Scalar i7 RAPTOR has an industry-leading 2,008 usable data slots in a single tape library cabinet or frame that delivers over 36 PB of storage using LTO-9 (native 18 TB/cartridge). This density advantage provides customers with significant cost savings, reducing customer library acquisition costs, support costs, floorspace costs, power/cooling costs and colocation costs.
Enhanced Serviceability, Minimal Downtime
The Scalar i7 RAPTOR design greatly simplifies service with all components being customer serviceable and replaceable in less than five minutes. In addition, all replaceable components are hardened to minimize damage from handling, also enabling customer replacements. This service simplification reduces downtime and improves customer service level agreements (SLA). In addition, all tape hardware is installed in the factory, simplifying onsite installation and allowing customers to self-install if desired.
Maximum Sustainability
The Scalar i7 RAPTOR leads the industry in sustainability with the highest 80 PLUS Platinum power supply efficiency rating—outperforming the Silver or unrated supplies found in most competing libraries. This power efficiency, combined with industry-leading storage density, makes the Scalar i7 RAPTOR the most power-efficient tape library per PB of storage available, helping customers achieve their sustainability goals while cutting operational costs.
Unmatched Security and Immutability
The Scalar i7 RAPTOR offers many security features only offered with Quantum tape libraries, including advanced, patented ransomware recovery features like Active Vault and Logical Tape Blocking. Quantum libraries have unique features that protect libraries from unauthorized access, ensuring data integrity and providing enhanced air gap protection beyond the normal protection of other libraries.
Seamless Integration
The Scalar i7 RAPTOR offers seamless integration with other Quantum solutions like StorNext® file system and ActiveScale® scalable S3 object storage, and with all major tape management software like Veeam and Commvault. The Scalar i7 RAPTOR also fully supports AI workflows and environments that store files or objects.
ActiveScale and the Scalar i7 RAPTOR together deliver cost-effective, S3 Glacier-compatible cold storage services. By deploying multiple Scalar i7 RAPTORs in a Redundant Array of Independent Libraries (RAIL) architecture, ActiveScale manages and optimizes data placement across the libraries for industry leading availability, performance, and storage efficiency. The turnkey solution provides far greater durability than multi-copy tape systems, enhances data accessibility compared to hyperscale cloud storage and S3-to-object gateway solutions, and allows organizations to simply deploy low cost, high density, self-service data lakes, storage clouds, and large-scale archives.
Additionally, the Scalar i7 RAPTOR integrates with StorNext data services such FlexTier® to deliver full data lifecycle management from data creation to long-term retention and recall. As data moves across storage media, from Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) or solid-state drive (SSD) to hard disk drive (HDD), tape, or cloud, StorNext provides continuous access. Data requiring preservation over time can be copied or moved manually or by policy to the Scalar i7 RAPTOR for the lowest cost long-term retention.
Scalar i7 RAPTOR Technical Highlights:
- Library Design
Single cabinet/frame, scale-out architecture
Fast robot with dual picker
No tape swapping required
Comparable 48U height
Fits within standard 19-inch data center rack footprint
Optional rack space available for integration of non-tape hardware
Capable of shipping with media installed for ease of installation - Scalability
Up to 2008 data slots
Flexible growth with capacity-on-demand starting at 100 slots and incrementing in 100 slot increments
Up to 20 LTO full-height tape drives, more than any other scale-out library - Security
Quantum Secure Framework, unmatched tape cyber protection
Active Vault for enhanced air gap protection
Patented Tape Blocking for enhanced data immutability
Multi-Factor Authentication
Media removal alerts - Tape Drives
Supports LTO-7, LTO-8, and LTO-9
FC and SAS drive interfaces - Power System
80 PLUS Platinum power supplies, the most efficient in the industry
Full 2N power included standard
AC and DC power supported
Fully populated library <1kW, typical configurations <0.5kW
“As unstructured data growth continues to grow exponentially, large enterprises need a low-cost, highly secure, highly scalable archival storage system that delivers more storage density than any other solution on the market,” said Bruno Hald, vice president of secondary storage at Quantum. “We continue to deliver the most innovation in tape technology that help solve customers’ needs for massive storage that fits their budget, reduces their footprint and scales easily as their needs grow.”
The Scalar i7 RAPTOR is now available for general distribution, with initial units already in customer testing and certification. For more information about the Scalar i7 RAPTOR and Quantum’s comprehensive infrastructure solutions for AI, please visit www.quantum.com/scalar-i7-RAPTOR.
About Quantum
Quantum technology, software, and services provide the solutions that today’s organizations need to make video and other unstructured data smarter – so their data works for them and not the other way around. With over 40 years of innovation, Quantum’s end-to-end platform is uniquely equipped to orchestrate, protect, and enrich data across its lifecycle, providing enhanced intelligence and actionable insights. Leading organizations in cloud services, entertainment, government, research, education, transportation, and enterprise IT trust Quantum to bring their data to life, because data makes life better, safer, and smarter. Quantum is listed on Nasdaq (QMCO). For more information visit www.quantum.com.