Iomega has begun selling its 'son of Jaz' removable hard drive, Rev. Pitched as an alternative to tape back-up rigs, Rev provides 35GB of uncompressed storage capacity per 2.5in removable disk. The disk is mounted inside a 10 x 8 x 8cm cartridge, and yields a 25MBps transfer rate - eight times faster than DDS-4 tape, Iomega claims.

Each disk contains its own read/write head assembly and drive motor, allowing the unit to be sealed as tightly as a regular hard drive. That, reckons Iomega, will eliminate the data corruption problems past removable hard drive formats have suffered over time. According to the company, Rev disks offer "an error rate three orders of magnitude better than that of today's sealed hard drives".

"Iomega Rev disks are engineered to provide an extremely durable and reliable shelf life, estimated to exceed 30 years," it added.

Of course, it makes the disk more expensive than might otherwise be the case. Iomega said it will charge $60 a disk (or four for $200) - $10 more than it said it would when it announced Rev last November.

The drives cost $400 for an external USB 2.0 unit and $380 for an internal ATAPI drive. Both ship with a bundled disk.

Iomega is also bundling its auto back-up software along with Symantec's Norton Ghost hard drive mirroring code. Iomega said it will ship software to allow punters to boot up off their Rev drive "until the failed hard drive can be replaced". ®

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