Quantum soups up midrange DXi

Quantum has added Fibre Channel access to its DXi6500 mid-range to make the DXi6700 with a 3.5TB/hour data rate.

The DXi6700, which Quantum says uses the latest processor cores, has 24-56TB of usable capacity, in 8TB increments, and comes with four 8Gbit/s Fibre Channel ports - two for the hosts and two for the direct path to type. It offers a Virtual Tape Library (VTL) interface.

The existing DXi6550, with its Ethernet access, deduplicates data at up to 2.5TB/hour, the same as the high-end 7500 product. We're probably looking at a DXi7500 refresh later this year to bring its data rate up to parity with the 6700 or beyond it.

The DXi6700 can replicate backup data between sites, using deduplication to reduce typical network bandwidth requirements by a claimed factor of 20 or more, and encrypting transmitted data for security.

Quantum says all the software features are included at DXi6700 purchase time, including the direct path to tape. It claims better performance than equivalent products from Data Domain, citing 20 per cent faster backups and 35 per cent faster restores for 45 per cent less cost when comparing the DXi6540 and Data Domain DD660.

The DXi6700, with its 3.5TB/hour maximum VTL performance, is slightly slower than the 3.6TB/hour of Data Domain's DD670. It has the same 56TB maximum capacity but costs $184,000 for a 32TB usable system compared to the $284,500 needed for the equivalent DD670 - 55 per cent more than Quantum's price.

Quantum also says it provides much better activity reporting than Data Domain. The DXi6700 starts at $159,000 (manufacturer's suggested retail price) and is available now through Quantum’s channel partners. ®