BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 15 — Spectra Logic today unveiled ArcticBlue, a new nearline disk storage system. ArcticBlue leverages the company’s BlackPearl hybrid storage architecture and Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR) disk media, creating an object storage based disk platform with maximum longevity, efficiency and cost effectiveness. Datacenter and private cloud managers can now affordably integrate a long-life nearline disk solution with online performance.

Part of the Spectra Logic deep storage product set, ArcticBlue sits behind the BlackPearl Deep Storage Gateway, providing an S3 object storage interface that is easy to implement and use. ArcticBlue leverages BlackPearl’s new Advanced Bucket Management (ABM) feature, which automatically creates one or more copies on both ArcticBlue disk systems and Spectra Logic tape libraries, creating a deep storage solution that provides true genetic diversity and digital preservation of data.

“Digital tape has always led the way on cost, efficiency and longevity, and BlackPearl supplements a tape system by simplifying the interface and eliminating the barriers of software complexity,” said Matt Starr, chief technology officer, Spectra Logic. “ArcticBlue revolutionizes the entire system by adding a low cost, direct access online tier that can be used in conjunction with or instead of tape. It’s a product that reflects Spectra Logic’s 36 years of deep storage expertise.”

For detailed product specifications, visit the Spectra ArcticBlue web page, here. Attributes include:

• Initial cost as low as $0.10/GB U.S. MSRP, the industry’s lowest TCO over product life
• Drive Lifecycle Management extends the life of SMR-SATA drives through intelligent idling; More than doubles the life of the disk drives and delivers unmatched power efficiency, lowering TCO for the system
• Online performance maintained using fast access wide stripe-bands that can all be powered up for mass random reads, and fast network access, including 10GigE and 40GigE options through BlackPearl
• Utilizes SMR technology for high-density storage, from 384TB to 6.1PB in a single rack, with a long term upgrade path to higher capacity
• Unmatched data integrity and reliability with error detection and correction from the object level all the way to the media; Local erasure coding with built-in global spare drives statistically eliminating data loss
• Managed directly by Spectra’s BlackPearl Deep Storage Gateway, the S3 interface and automated policy-based storage provides nearline and off-line copies

“ArcticBlue is a breakthrough product for Spectra Logic that fills an open segment in private cloud, object, nearline and archive storage,” said Nathan Thompson, chief executive officer, Spectra Logic. “Combining disk and tape with the benefits of cloud storage, creates a genetically diverse storage media strategy, one we believe is important in assuring digital preservation.”

Spectra’s Developer Community is comprised of dozens of companies that have developed BlackPearl clients, and will continue to grow with the addition of ArcticBlue. Spectra’s open source Software Development Kits, APIs and S3 clients will be highlighted at Spectra’s inaugural Virtual Developer Conference on Tuesday, October 20^th.

ArcticBlue will begin shipping in December 2015. Pricing for a 48-drive ArcticBlue disk system begins at $49,920. A full-rack configuration delivers 6.1PB raw capacity, before compression of data.

About Spectra Logic Corporation

Spectra Logic develops deep storage solutions that solve the problem of long term storage for business and technology professionals dealing with exponential data growth. Dedicated solely to storage innovation for more than 36 years, Spectra Logic’s uncompromising product and customer focus is proven by the largest information users in multiple vertical markets globally. Spectra enables affordable, multi-decade data storage and access by creating new methods of managing information in all forms of deep storage—including archive, backup, cold storage, cloud and private cloud. Visit www.SpectraLogic.com.

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Source: Spectra Logic