Quantum Launches Low-Cost, Table-Top Disk Storage Unit

Data backup and recovery vendor Quantum is offering a compact, inexpensive new table-top storage unit that officials claim is the first removable disk product to feature deduplication.

The GoVault Data Protection Solution, released July 9 and intended for small businesses and branch offices, is a Windows-based storage package, a company spokesperson said. It includes a toaster-sized USB 2.0-connected table-top or server-embedded intelligent dock, data deduplication and disaster recovery software, and two removable cartridges for a total of 40GB capacity, at a starting price of $400.

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Additional capacities of 80GB, 120GB and 160GB are available, the spokesperson said.

"All you do with GoVault is plug it in, turn it on, install the software with a few mouse clicks, and insert the two cartridges. At the end of the day, you take the backup [cartridge] out and home with you, and you have an off-site disaster recovery backup," Quantum marketing manager Tom Hammond told eWEEK. "Then you simply rotate the cartridges each day."

Deduping, as deduplication is commonly known, is a method by which redundant files—and even blocks of data within files —are eliminated to improve data accessibility, which can drive down operational, power and cooling costs in the data center. The process can happen at several points in the information-gathering process: as data enters the system, at the server level or at the storage level.

Deduplication is one of the top storage trends. Click here to read more.

By only storing changes to files, backups can be completed in minutes instead of hours, said Hammond, in San Jose, Calif.

The sealed hard disk cartridges can withstand up to a 1-meter drop on hard surfaces, and provide up to a 10-year shelf life for archiving, he said. GoVault has password protection and encryption to secure cartridges while they are transported off-site for disaster recovery or in the event they are stolen or misplaced, he said.

GoVault is available now through Quantum and its distribution partners. Users can select an internal or tabletop dock and multiple cartridge capacities.

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