Copan Does Disk for the Price of Tape

New architecture removes complexities of tape backup and consistent restores. Officials said the result is a product that finds a place between on-line disk systems and off-line tape systems.

Copan Systems Inc. said it has developed a new enterprise-class MAID (massive arrays of idle drives) technology architecture that provides disk-based storage performance and reliability at the scale and price of tape. The company said it delivers improved backup and restore by removing the complexities of tape backup and enabling all the data to remain online for faster, more consistent restores. The result is a product that "fills a hole in the storage hierarchy between on-line disk systems and off-line tape systems," says Copan CEO Dave Davenport. At $1 to $3 per gigabyte, Davenport contends Copan can match tape in price and scalability, with the ability to store "hundreds of terabytes" in a single cabinet. Read the full story at Enterprise Storage Forum