August 23, 2007 Digistore Solutions is set to release a new carousel-like optical data storage hub called the Centurion DiskHub. Capable of holding up to 100 disks and including a built in dual layer DVD/CD rewritable drive (DVD-RW) for read/write functionality, the Centurion DiscHub offers a complete backup, archiving, storage and indexing solution designed to replace traditional tape backup systems for ease of access to files, whilst also providing a more durable and reliable form of storage than an external disk hard drive.
The Centurion DiskHub is a plug and play storage system that is designed for use by both businesses and the average home user. It has a capacity 100 disks per unit, equating to an approximate storage space of 850GB utilizing dual layer re-writable DVD media. The DiskHub also has the ability to daisy-chain 5 stackable units together, which can be managed from a single computer. The dimensions of the product are 470mm x 232mm with a weight of just 5.4kg, which makes it a manageable and practical near-line storage alternative.
The built in DVD-RW drive offers the home or business a data transfer rate of 4,570-16,620 KBps for DVD’s and 2,400-7,200 KBps for CD’s. This feature allows for valuable files to be moved to the DiskHub, easily access, and also re-image onto a disk or tape. The product uses industry-standard “Write Once, Read Many (WORM) media to preserve data. The WORM boasts a fifty-year plus expected life for data, and given the enormous amounts of digital information generated by businesses every day, the importance of reliable data storage is becoming paramount. Digistore affirms that “Companies simply can't afford to lose any of these valuable digital assets. The cost of replacing data and new demands for regulatory compliance means it's more critical than ever to be able to quickly recover digital assets.”
Tape backup systems suffer from poor durability and inaccessibility to stored data. Tape is a magnetic medium that can be susceptible to overwriting, and still has an inevitable end to its lifespan. On the other hand, external disk-based drives, such as the Iomega “Network Attached Storage” (NAS) online storage system, will be much faster in data retrieval, but will not have the media durability advantage of an optical storage system. Products like the Centurion DiskHub have attempted to contend with these issues by offering a more stable and cost effective optical storage solution.
For the average home PC user, the DiskHub can be utilized to store and manage digital photos, music collection (eg CD jukebox), movies, games and software. For larger organizations, the unit can safely store and manage a library of CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray optical discs. Digistore recommends connecting the Centurion DiscHub to the host computer system in a large business environment, in order to perform another level of backup of valuable data on optical media. This means data is genuinely secure and safe from breakdown of hard disk or even virus attack and other possible means.
Manufacturers of the Centurion DiskHub, Digistore Solutions, say that the product combines the fast access and easy search features of disk-based archives, with the low cost of traditional tape archives.
Chairman of Digistore, Victor Foo, will be in Melbourne, Australia on August 29th -30th for the launch of the Centurion DiskHub. The product will retail at AUD$799 (approx. US$650).
