New XenData SX Archive Servers manage LTO-5 tape libraries, addressing the long-term storage needs of the media and entertainment industry
Walnut Creek, CA, June 7, 2010 – XenData® (www.xendata.com), the leading provider of digital video archive solutions for the media and entertainment industry, today announces the launch of its range of SX Archive Servers for archiving to high capacity LTO-5 data tape libraries. Digital video archives based on SX Archive Servers manage from 60 TB to over a Petabyte of near-line LTO storage and an unlimited capacity of video files securely stored on offline LTO-5 data tapes. These solutions address the archiving needs of broadcasters, production companies, post-production and professional video services organizations.
SX Archive Servers are available in six models that offer different levels of performance. Each model is a 2U rack mount unit that manages a LTO data tape library and provides a file system interface. The file system is accessed over I GigE or 10 GigE network interfaces via CIFS/SMB or FTP network protocols. SX Archive Servers are configurable to manage a wide range of LTO data tape libraries, including those from Dell, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Oracle/Storagetek, Overland Storage, Qualstar, Quantum, Sony and Spectra Logic.
All SX Archive Servers run XenData’s X64 Edition software, which provides high performance and a rich set of functionality including:
- Standard File Interface: The digital archive accepts all file types and presents them in a single Windows file system. Files are written to and retrieved from the archive as though from a standard magnetic disk drive.
- Windows and Mac Compatibility: Windows and Apple OS X clients are natively supported without need for loading any client software.
- Standard Network Protocols: The solution is optimized for CIFS/SMB and FTP file transfers.
Manages Near-line Disk, Near-line & Offline Tape: The administrator defines policies for RAID caching that can be tailored for different file types and folders.
- Standard POSIX tar Tape Format: The archived files are written to tape using the standard POSIX tar format. This means that, in addition to using XenData software, files may be restored using a wide range of Linux and UNIX operating systems.
- Self-Describing Data Tapes: Each tape cartridge contains all the file system metadata necessary to recover all the files stored on it whether using XenData software, Microsoft Services for Unix, Linux or UNIX operating system commands.
-Tape Replication: The software automatically generates replica data tape cartridges that may be exported from the library for off-site retention or rapidly imported into a replica DR system.
- Partial Read of Large Files: With very large files there is often a need to read only a portion of the file. (This frequently occurs with multi-gigabyte video files when a short clip is requested.) XenData software supports partial reading of large files based on byte offset.
- Repack of Tapes: This copies only current files, excluding deleted files and old versions of files, to new tapes. Benefits: permits recovery of capacity from rewritable tapes; also provides ability to easily migrate to future generations of LTO.
- Transfer of Content between Systems: Export and import functions allow content to be easily transferred from one location to another.
The SX Archive Servers are available initially in the USA and Canada starting in June 2010. Additionally, XenData offers onsite installation and training. After installation, the SX Archive Servers come with onsite hardware support from Hewlett Packard.
The SX Archive Servers start at $26,950 for a well configured system that includes the first year of onsite support. “The SX Archive Server product range provides a series of well characterized solutions optimized to meet the digital video archive requirements of the media and entertainment industry,” states Dr. Phil Storey, co-founder and CEO of XenData. “Now that LTO-5 is available, an entry-level digital video archive solution will provide 60 TB of near-line capacity at a cost of less than $50,000. This includes the SX Server and LTO-5 tape library and it provides outstanding levels of secure long-term file storage: over 2,500 hours of HD near-line and an infinite capacity held on LTO tapes on the shelf. ”
