ATTO adds to Swarm solution

Spectra Swarm adds Ethernet connectivity to Spectra LTO tape libraries. While Fibre Channel continues to be fully available across all Spectra tape libraries, the new enhancement helps end users simplify their workflows. Spectra Swarm makes tape connectivity easier and adds a modern interface to Spectra’s LTO tape libraries by leveraging all of the same infrastructure and networking capabilities as the rest of the equipment in a modern data center. Spectra Swarm is tested and qualified to work with Spectra LTO tape libraries — Spectra Stack through Spectra T950.

ATTO XstreamCORE ET 8200 is an accelerated hardware protocol converter that connects Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) LTO tape drives to Ethernet networks via iSCSI or iSER protocols. It’s a reliable and cost-effective way to remotely connect SAS tape devices to Ethernet fabrics and includes advanced monitoring and management tools.

“Spectra Swarm extends tape libraries beyond single server racks by utilizing a backbone 40GbE RoCE or iSCSI connection that is locally switched to multiple SAS-connected LTO drives,” said Spectra’s Senior Director of Tape Hardware Engineering Matt Ninesling. “This Spectra solution, leveraging ATTO’s XstreamCORE 8200, enables cost savings due to the ability to use lower-cost SAS half-height tape drives, delivering faster tape library performance with the addition of more tape drives for the price.”

With ATTO xCORE hardware acceleration and ATTO SpeedWrite™ technologies, XstreamCORE ET 8200 facilitates tape writes that are 20% faster than direct-attached SAS, allowing data backups at up to 4800 MB/s using iSER and 2500 MB/s using iSCSI to 16 tape drives.

"XstreamCORE allows organizations to utilize their iSCSI infrastructure for maximum flexibility while also taking advantage of the lossless iSER protocol for maximum performance," said Timothy J. Klein, president and CEO, ATTO Technology.  “It’s an ideal match for the broad portfolio of tape solutions provided by Spectra Logic.”