Iomega makes enterprise storage debut with Peerless

With its new Peerless drive system, which offers up to 20GB of storage per disk, Iomega is targeting enterprise users for the first time.

The company is touting the system of standalone peripheral drives as an alternative to current tape media storage solutions, such as digital audio tape (DAT), for system migration and professional audio- or video-editing work.

"With the Peerless, users can back up their entire hard drive, migrate computer systems, and automatically protect all their vital data," claimed Jason W. Godfrey, senior product manager (Product Management) Iomega Pacific.

The Peerless system, which Iomega sees replacing its Jaz drives in the near future, consists of a vertical base station that sits on an interchangeable interface module and one or more 10GB or 20GB disks. With a FireWire interface, the Peerless system can transfer data at up to 15MB per second.

According to Godfrey, the disks have been developed with IBM's Travelstar technology and are able to withstand drops from about desktop height. Furthermore, their "sealed" form factor keeps them safe from dust contamination, he claimed.

Meanwhile, the company is also developing an internal version of the Peerless that may one day replace your computer's hard drive.

The planned internal Peerless drive, from which users can boot up their systems, is expected to be available by the end of the year, said Richard Lim, its country director for Asia South.

The Peerless drive system, initially configured with the USB 1.1 interface module, will start shipping to Singapore on June 15. Systems bundled with a 10GB disk will retail for S$679 while those with a 20GB disk will retail at S$749. Individual Peerless disks will also be available at S$275 (for 10GB) and S$345 (for 20GB).

The FireWire interface module is expected to be available by August while SCSI and USB 2.0 versions are still being developed.