The IBM 3592 TotalStorage Enterprise Tape Drive Model J1A has a dual-ported 2-Gbps Fibre Channel interface Fibre Channel attachment to host systems or a switched fabric environment. It has a high-technology design that increases the native data rate to up to 40 MB/sec, over 2.5 times the 14 MB/sec data rate of the 3590 E or H Models, and over 4 times the 9 MB/sec data rate of the 3590 B Models. With data compression and a 32 K blocksize, the Model J1A is designed to offer up to 2.5 times the data rate of the 3590 E or H Model.

The 3592 Model J1A is designed to meet the needs of tape customers across a broad range of computing environments, including selected IBM eServer zSeries, S/390, IBM eServer iSeries, AS/400, IBM eServer pSeries, RS/6000, IBM eServer xSeries, Sun, and Hewlett Packard servers, as well as Intel-compatible servers running Microsoft Windows and Linux.

With the use of the IBM TotalStorage Tape Data Cartridge 3592, the 3592 Model J1A provides a native cartridge capacity of up to 300 GB (900 GB with 3:1 compression), five times more than the maximum capacity of a 3590 H Model. The 3592 Model J1A is designed for automation and uses a tape cartridge with a form factor similar to the 3590 tape cartridges, which allows it to be used in the IBM TotalStorage Enterprise Tape Library 3494 and StorageTek Automated Cartridge System (ACS) solutions. If you require a stand-alone drive outside of a library, the 3592 Model J1A will also be available for installation in a stand-alone rack. The smaller size of the 3592 Model J1A Tape Drive allows more drives to be installed in a rack or frame than with the 3590 Tape Drive.

The 3592 Model J1A is designed to support capacity scaling of an individual tape cartridge to 60 GB. The effect of capacity scaling to 60 GB capacity is to reduce the average locate time to a random record (from load point) to 30% of the normal locate time. Additional enhancements have been made to the 3592 Model J1A Tape Drive that may help improve availability, performance, and capacity.

The Enterprise Tape Drive 3592 Model J1A is a follow-on to the highly successful Enterprise Tape Drive 3590. It is designed for high-performance tape applications, including:

• High-speed data save operations where backup windows are critical, and large amounts of data are archived to tape.
• Large-scale automated tape environments where performance and reliability are required. These are primarily half-inch tape drive environments.
• Large-scale mass data archive applications where massive amounts of data need to be quickly saved to tape for storage and later recall (examples include the seismic industry, data warehousing, and record management applications).

The 3592 Model J1A is the first model in a family of tape products that are designed to meet the growing needs of both new and existing IBM tape customers across a wide range of environments. Advantages of the Enterprise Tape Drive 3592 Model J1A include:

• Higher performance, which can help reduce the number of tape drives required
• Larger capacity, to help you reduce the number of cartridges required and floor space needed
• Smaller form factor, which can help reduce the automation foot print
• Dual-ported native switched fabric interface, designed to enhance the attachment flexibility
• High reliability, to help you improve operations

Capacity

The 3592 Model J1A is designed to provide 5 to 15 times the native cartridge capacity of a 3590 E or H Model, or 15 to 30 times the cartridge capacity of a 3590 B Model. The exact ratio depends on which cartridge is used with the 3590 drive. The following table compares the cartridge capacity versus the 3590 H, E, and B Models.