HP to launch new tape backup for SMEs

HP have announced new tape backup products aimed at SMEs.

The new StorageWorks DAT 40 and DAT 72 USB tape drives combine the cost-effectiveness of DAT with USB plug and play convenience, claimed HP on Monday.

The company is also touting its 'one button' disaster recovery feature, which it says allows users to recover their data and reconfigure their systems at the push of a button.

The new tape drives are to be bundled with HP StorageWorks Library and Tape Tools, software utilities designed to aid installation, management, and troubleshooting. HP says this will enable SMEs with little or no IT support to back up their systems.

Users need not use a SCSI setup, and can have the DAT tape backup products up and running very quickly, says HP. Compatibility should also not be a problem, they say, as the drives are designed to work with a wide variety of servers and operating systems.

The HP StorageWorks DAT 40 USB is a DDS-4 tape drive that stores 40GB of compressed data per cartridge, at a rate of 23 GB/hour (assuming 2:1 data compression). It is expected to be available from 4 July starting at $599 (£330).

The HP StorageWorks DAT 72 USB has a capacity of 72GB per data cartridge and a transfer rate of 23 GB/hour (assuming a 2:1 compression ratio). It should also be available from 4 July starting at $749.