Tandberg Storage
Encyclopedia
Tandberg Storage ASA was a magnetic tape data storage
company based in Lysaker
, Norway
. The company was a subsidiary of Tandberg Data
. The company was spun off from Tandberg Data in 2003 to focus exclusively on tape drives. It was purchased by the same company in 2008. Tandberg Storage developed four drive series, all based on Linear Tape-Open
(LTO) specifications. Manufacturing was outsourced to the Chinese-based Lafè Peripherals International. Tandberg Storage also owned 93.5% of O-Mass AS. The company was declared bankrupt together with Tandberg Data in 2009.
of Tandberg Data on 22 May 2003. Tandberg Storage had previously been an integrated part of Tandberg Data, but management wanted the two companies to follow separate research and development
strategies. While Tandberg Data retained responsibility on complete storage and automation systems, Tandberg Storage would focus on advanced tape-drive technologies. Tandberg Storage was established with 37 research and development employees, plus a 93.5% ownership of O-Mass. The company was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange
on 2 October 2003, with the owners of Tandberg Data receiving all the shares in Tandberg Storage.
The initial goal of the company was to develop a LTO-2 linear tape-open drive within a half-height form factor. While the underlying technology had been developed, the main components needed to be developed, in particular the drive mechanism. A working system was demonstrated in December 2003, and in June 2004 the first complete prototype could be tested. In October, the test program started, and from December verification was initiated with the LTO Committee. The drive was approved on 11 March 2005. In the second half of 2005, Tandberg Storage developed Serial Attached SCSI
and application and data integration. These were both launched in 2006. In 2005, the company also started development of a half-height LTO-3 drive. The product was launched in 2007. The following year, a no-encryption LTO-4 was launched.
In November 2008, Tandberg Storage merged with Tandberg Data, with the latter paying the former's owners in shares. Both companies had been having financial problems, and the cooperation between the two had been difficult during 2008. Tandberg Storage was at the time the largest supplier to Tandberg Data. By merging, the managements hoped to gain synergy effects between the two companies. Until the announcement of the merger in September, Tandberg Storage's share price had fallen 89% since the start of the year. Following the announcement, the share price fell a further 35%. The take-over involved a refinancing of the debt in Tandberg Storage. Tandberg Storage remained a subsidiary.
, just outside Oslo
, Norway. Of the 54 employees in 2007, 45 worked within research and development. The main competitors offering LTO drives were Hewlett-Packard
, IBM
and Quantum.
s. Manufactured by Lafè Peripherals International of China, there are four models available. All drives were built around a common half-height aluminum casting. All drives, except the TS200, have variable transfer rate systems to match host transfer speeds. All drives have the lowest power consumption in the industry, and do not require external fans. In 2006, Tandberg Storage held a 26% worldwide market share.
s. A conceptual 2 TB demonstration was produced. Tandberg Storage owned 93.5%, while Imation
of the United States held 6.5% of the company. Three people worked for O-Mass.
Magnetic tape data storage
Magnetic tape data storage uses digital recording on to magnetic tape to store digital information. Modern magnetic tape is most commonly packaged in cartridges and cassettes. The device that performs actual writing or reading of data is a tape drive...
company based in Lysaker
Lysaker
Lysaker is a section of and a postal code area of the Norwegian municipality of Bærum, just west of Oslo.Geographically, it is bordered by Lysakerelven on the east, which also forms the border to Oslo; Fornebu to the south; Stabekk to the west; and Jar to the north...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The company was a subsidiary of Tandberg Data
Tandberg Data
Tandberg Data GmbH is a company focused on data storage products, especially streamers, headquartered in Dortmund, Germany. They are the only company still selling drives that use the QIC and VXA formats, but also produce LTO along with autoloaders, tape libraries, NAS devices, RDX Removable Disk...
. The company was spun off from Tandberg Data in 2003 to focus exclusively on tape drives. It was purchased by the same company in 2008. Tandberg Storage developed four drive series, all based on Linear Tape-Open
Linear Tape-Open
Linear Tape-Open is a magnetic tape data storage technology originally developed in the late 1990s as an open standards alternative to the proprietary magnetic tape formats that were available at the time. Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Seagate initiated the LTO Consortium, which directs development...
(LTO) specifications. Manufacturing was outsourced to the Chinese-based Lafè Peripherals International. Tandberg Storage also owned 93.5% of O-Mass AS. The company was declared bankrupt together with Tandberg Data in 2009.
History
Tandberg Storage was established as a spin-offDemerger
Demerger is a form of corporate restructuring in which the an entity's business operations are segregated into one or more components. It is the converse of a merger or acquisition....
of Tandberg Data on 22 May 2003. Tandberg Storage had previously been an integrated part of Tandberg Data, but management wanted the two companies to follow separate research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
strategies. While Tandberg Data retained responsibility on complete storage and automation systems, Tandberg Storage would focus on advanced tape-drive technologies. Tandberg Storage was established with 37 research and development employees, plus a 93.5% ownership of O-Mass. The company was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange
Oslo Stock Exchange
The Oslo Stock Exchange serves as the main market for trading in the shares of Norwegian companies. It opens at 9:00am and closes 5:30pm local time...
on 2 October 2003, with the owners of Tandberg Data receiving all the shares in Tandberg Storage.
The initial goal of the company was to develop a LTO-2 linear tape-open drive within a half-height form factor. While the underlying technology had been developed, the main components needed to be developed, in particular the drive mechanism. A working system was demonstrated in December 2003, and in June 2004 the first complete prototype could be tested. In October, the test program started, and from December verification was initiated with the LTO Committee. The drive was approved on 11 March 2005. In the second half of 2005, Tandberg Storage developed Serial Attached SCSI
Serial Attached SCSI
Serial Attached SCSI is a computer bus used to move data to and from computer storage devices such as hard drives and tape drives. SAS depends on a point-to-point serial protocol that replaces the parallel SCSI bus technology that first appeared in the mid 1980s in data centers and workstations,...
and application and data integration. These were both launched in 2006. In 2005, the company also started development of a half-height LTO-3 drive. The product was launched in 2007. The following year, a no-encryption LTO-4 was launched.
In November 2008, Tandberg Storage merged with Tandberg Data, with the latter paying the former's owners in shares. Both companies had been having financial problems, and the cooperation between the two had been difficult during 2008. Tandberg Storage was at the time the largest supplier to Tandberg Data. By merging, the managements hoped to gain synergy effects between the two companies. Until the announcement of the merger in September, Tandberg Storage's share price had fallen 89% since the start of the year. Following the announcement, the share price fell a further 35%. The take-over involved a refinancing of the debt in Tandberg Storage. Tandberg Storage remained a subsidiary.
Operations
The company was based at Lysaker in BærumBærum
is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandvika. Bærum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. A suburb of Oslo, Bærum is located on the west coast of the city....
, just outside Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway. Of the 54 employees in 2007, 45 worked within research and development. The main competitors offering LTO drives were Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and Quantum.
Products
Tandberg Storage produced a full range of Linear Tape-Open drives, between 100 and 800 gigabyteGigabyte
The gigabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage. The prefix giga means 109 in the International System of Units , therefore 1 gigabyte is...
s. Manufactured by Lafè Peripherals International of China, there are four models available. All drives were built around a common half-height aluminum casting. All drives, except the TS200, have variable transfer rate systems to match host transfer speeds. All drives have the lowest power consumption in the industry, and do not require external fans. In 2006, Tandberg Storage held a 26% worldwide market share.
| Specification | TS1600 | TS800 | TS400 | TS200 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | LTO-4 | LTO-3 | LTO-2 | LTO-1 |
| Transfer rate | 80 MB/s | 60 MB/s | 24 MB/s | 16 MB/s |
| Interface | SCSI Ultra-160 SAS 1.1 |
SCSI Ultra-160 SAS 1.1 |
SCSI Ultra-160 | SCSI Ultra-160 |
| Memory buffer | 128 MB | 128 MB | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Tape speed | 4.37 m/s | 4.21 m/s | 4.21 m/s | 4.37 m/s |
| Hard read error rate | 10−17 | 10−17 | 10−17 | 10−17 |
O-Mass
O-Mass AS was a research and development subsidiary responsible for the development of a new read-write head technology, that could allow tape sizes to reach 10 terabyteTerabyte
The terabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The prefix tera means 1012 in the International System of Units , and therefore 1 terabyte is , or 1 trillion bytes, or 1000 gigabytes. 1 terabyte in binary prefixes is 0.9095 tebibytes, or 931.32 gibibytes...
s. A conceptual 2 TB demonstration was produced. Tandberg Storage owned 93.5%, while Imation
Imation
Imation is a US based multi-national technology corporation that designs, manufactures and sells recordable data storage media, consumer electronics products and accessories.The company is a 1996 spin off of 3M and is headquartered in Oakdale, Minnesota...
of the United States held 6.5% of the company. Three people worked for O-Mass.