Dell First to Help Customers Reach A New Level of Data Security

Enhanced Tape Technology Enables Encryption for Industry-Leading Data Protection.
Dell today announced it is the first major storage provider to deliver the next generation of Linear Tape-Open drives and media – known as LTO-4 – to help protect and manage business-critical data. With device-level encryption, the Dell PowerVaultTM LTO-4-120 enables greater levels of security, capacity and performance for tape-based storage.

Industry research shows that most companies rely heavily on tape for backup, archiving and compliance. A recent survey of storage customers, for example, indicated that 81 percent will either increase or maintain their level of investment in tape backup and restore. Additionally, the survey showed that more than 50 percent of companies use tape for compliance storage1.

Based on the LTO-4 Ultrium format, key features of the Dell PowerVault LTO-4-120 drives include:

* Greater Security: LTO-4 is the first version to enable device-level encryption. This is important given the portable nature of tape and that backup tapes are often stored at off-site locations. If lost or stolen, encryption would help prevent the data from being accessed.
* More Capacity/Performance: The Dell PowerVault LTO-4-120 drives offer double the capacity – 800GB native – and a 50 percent performance increase over the previous generation. This allows customers to decrease backup windows by 33 percent and reduce the number of tape cartridges they are currently managing.
* Intergenerational Operability: Standardized LTO technology ensures customers have forward and backward compatibility as well as vendor neutrality. The LTO-4-120 is backward read and write compatible with the previous generation and backward read compatible with media from the prior two generations.

Pricing and Availability

Dell expects availability of the drives and media to begin April 20, 2007. Pricing for the external standalone Dell PowerVault LTO-4-120 drive starts at about $4,000 (USD). Media pricing begins at about $200 (USD). For more information on Dell storage, visit http:///www.dell.com/storage.