Quantum Corporation announced the Scalar i7 RAPTOR, the latest in tape innovation to support growing AI use cases. Built to handle advanced AI workflows for hyperscale customers, MSPs and large enterprises, the Scalar i7 RAPTOR is engineered to deliver the densest, most scalable tape solution on the market. As organizations look to retain more data than ever to fuel AI models, this new offering gives customers an ultra-low cost, green, and secure solution for data lakes, data protection, and private and hybrid cloud deployments.
“As unstructured data growth continues unbounded due to the rise of AI and other high-performance workloads, large enterprises need a low cost, highly secure archival storage system that acts as the backbone of private and hybrid clouds, and creates data lakes to fuel AI models and initiatives,” said Bruno Hald, vice president of secondary storage at Quantum. “As the pioneers in tape technology, we used our expertise and input from our major hyperscale customers to develop the most advanced tape solution built for these emerging use cases.”
The Scalar i7 RAPTOR delivers the highest storage density of any tape solution on the market and offers unique anti-ransomware features like Tape Blocking for building cyber resilient private and hybrid clouds. As the leader in tape storage for more than 40 years, Quantum’s Scalar i7 RAPTOR is the latest in a string of innovations that advance the company’s competitive leadership position in building and managing hyperscale cloud infrastructure, and for building private and hybrid clouds and massive data lakes to fuel and train AI.
Key features and benefits of the Scalar i7 RAPTOR include:
AI-driven predictive analytics
At the forefront of the Scalar i7 RAPTOR’s solution set is its analytics, utilizing cutting-edge AI capabilities and setting a new industry standard for simple management and continuous availability. The solution features automated analytics that can characterize drive-media interactions, predict robotic failures and gather critical system data to continuously learn and help analyze and improve performance. This proactive approach ensures unmatched reliability and availability, ensuring continual business operations. The Scalar i7 RAPTOR leverages AI to improve ease of use and management with interactive documentation and support tools.
Modern S3 interface options
The Scalar i7 RAPTOR seamlessly integrates with ActiveScale, Quantum’s industry-leading object storage solution, to offer a modern S3 interface, enabling simple integration into AI work streams. This design eliminates the complexities traditionally associated with tape storage, simplifying user interaction. The combination of ActiveScale and the Scalar i7 RAPTOR delivers one of the most cost-effective solutions that allows enterprises to retain every piece of data generated to feed data pipelines for comprehensive AI training. Additionally, this system is available as either an OpEx model with monthly, usage-based payment schedules, or an as-a-service model, which provides flexibility and scalability to satisfy a wide range of organisational objectives.
Maximum Density, Performance and Efficiency for Lowest TCO
The Scalar i7 RAPTOR is designed to deliver the maximum storage density, performance, and efficiency available in the market, which translates to fewer libraries to purchase, install and maintain, thereby reducing capital and operational expenditures. The product optimizes data access time and delivers industry-leading performance by avoiding complex mechanical designs that require excessive tape swapping.
With fewer libraries required to achieve maximum storage capacity, the amount of expensive data centre floorspace needed to house the system is greatly reduced. This means customers get access to a low-cost medium that now delivers even better total cost of ownership (TCO) due to the greater density, performance and storage efficiency offered in the Scalar i7 RAPTOR.
Ultimate sustainability
Quantum is committed to sustainability, and the Scalar i7 RAPTOR is a testament to this commitment. Every aspect of the Scalar i7 RAPTOR is designed with the environment in mind. The product features the industry’s lowest power consumption and employs sustainable materials and processes throughout its lifecycle, from manufacture to delivery to operation to maintenance to disposition. This reduces the environmental impact and helps organisations achieve their goals to reduce CO2 emissions.
Simplified deployment and maintenance
Designed for rapid deployment, the Scalar i7 RAPTOR enables a seamless transition from dock to data center floor in record time. With easy maintenance and 100 percent customer-replaceable components, Scalar i7 RAPTOR empowers data center technicians to service the product without specialised training. This simplicity and flexibility ensure that enterprises can scale their storage infrastructure quickly and efficiently.
The Scalar i7 RAPTOR will be generally available early next year, with units going into customer testing and certification by late fall of this year.