Quantum AQ293C LTO-5 Fibre Channel Tape Drive for Scalar i40 Library

Product Description

The Quantum AQ293C is an LTO-5 Ultrium tape drive engineered for seamless integration into the Quantum Scalar i40 tape library. This drive represents a significant advancement in tape storage technology, offering substantial increases in both capacity and performance compared to previous LTO generations. The LTO-5 standard allows for a native capacity of 1.5TB per tape cartridge, which can be expanded to 3.0TB when utilizing hardware data compression. This makes it an ideal solution for organizations dealing with growing data volumes and requiring efficient, cost-effective backup and archival storage. Featuring a Fibre Channel interface, the AQ293C ensures high-speed and reliable connectivity to the Scalar i40 library and, subsequently, to the host servers. This interface is well-suited for enterprise environments where high bandwidth and low latency are critical for meeting stringent backup windows and ensuring rapid data retrieval. The drive delivers impressive data transfer rates, achieving up to 140MB/s in native mode and up to 280MB/s with compression, significantly reducing the time required for backup and restore operations. Designed specifically for the Quantum Scalar i40 library, the AQ293C leverages the library's automation and management features to provide a complete tape backup solution. Its LTO-5 technology ensures backward read compatibility with LTO-4 media and forward write compatibility with LTO-6 media (at LTO-5 performance levels), offering flexibility and investment protection. This drive is a key component for businesses seeking reliable, scalable, and high-performance data protection strategies within a compact library form factor.