QUALSTAR ANNOUNCES NEW HIGH DENSITY RACK MOUNT LTO TAPE LIBRARY

Qualstar Corporation, a manufacturer of automated tape storage solutions, has announced the immediate availability of the RLS-8244, the newest member of its widely regarded RLS-Series Rack Mount Library family designed specifically for backup, archival storage, data protection and disaster recovery. The RLS-8244 delivers 8.8 terabytes of native capacity using only 5U (8.75
inches) of valuable rack space, making it an ideal choice for small and mid-sized companies faced with rapidly growing data storage requirements. Using built-in data compression, the RLS-8244 can easily store more than 17 terabytes, making it the highest density rack mount LTO library available. The newest member of Qualstar's RLS-Series, the RLS-8244 is the seventh model in the family that entered production two years ago. The RLS-Series is the only tape library on the market supporting all of today's most popular tape formats for data storage: AIT, LTO, SuperAIT and SuperDLT, enabling resellers and integrators to select the right format to match their customers' requirements, without needing to constantly learn how to install, configure and conduct user training on a new library. "The RLS-8244 gives us an advantage in working with mid-sized companies that require powerful data protection, or with larger companies that need reliable backup and restore capabilities at remote locations in a minimum amount of space," said Richard Kuhar, president of Arkay Engineering, a leading supplier of open systems data storage solutions based in Ohio. "Qualstar's entire line of rackmount tape libraries combine excellent performance and value."

The RLS-8244 incorporates IBM LTO 2 tape drives to provide the high performance needed to match its capacity. The library's native data transfer rate is 252 gigabytes per hour. Using compression, the data transfer rate can readily exceed 500 gigabytes per hour. "Backing up to magnetic tape secured offline is still the most dependable way to isolate and protect critical data," said William Gervais, president and CEO of Qualstar. "The ability to automatically remove media to protect the data from online attacks is a fundamental advantage offered by tape library-based data protection that disk-based offerings lack. The RLS-8244 continues our commitment to delivering efficient, high density, cost-effective data protection solutions." Matching its market-leading capacity and performance, the RLS-8244 offers enterprise-class high-availability features needed by administrators responsible for corporate-critical data. Dual redundant hot-swappable power supplies, true hot-swappable tape drives and fibre channel options combined with the industry's highest reliability rating, deliver real value in a compact, easily installed 5U rack height. Like all Qualstar Simply Reliable tape libraries, the RLS-8244 supports Q-Link, a browser-based remote library manager that enables users to manage, monitor and configure any unit from across the room using their intranet, or from around the world via the Internet. Q-Link lets administrators configure the library, monitor operations, control access and receive e-mail alerts using a built-in, policy-based event notification system. Q-Link provides significant savings by allowing companies to deploy enterprise-class storage to locations without on-site administration. The RLS-8244, like all other Qualstar TLS- and RLS-Series libraries, is sold and supported worldwide through selected, authorised Resellers.