Third-Generation REV Technology Provides Superior Backup and Archive
Performance for Tape-Weary Users and Others In a Data Intensive World
SAN DIEGO, March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Iomega Corporation (NYSE:
IOM), a global leader in data storage and protection, today announced the
new Iomega(R) REV(R) 120GB Backup Drive, the third generation of its
award-winning REV technology and a benchmark in smart, sensible backup for
small and medium-sized businesses, remote work groups and others.
Iomega will unveil the new Iomega REV 120GB Backup Drive and REV 120GB
disks at CeBIT 2008, the international technology tradeshow beginning today
in Hanover, Germany, and running through March 9. Iomega is located at
CeBIT in Hall 2, booth D56.
The Iomega REV 120GB Backup Drive is expected to be available worldwide
in April as external USB 2.0 and internal SATA interface models; a REV
120GB ATAPI interface model is planned for mid-year.
"With a REV install base of 350,000 drives and 2,000,000 disks, tape
backup for small business has worn out its welcome," said Tom Kampfer,
president and COO, Iomega Corporation. "Iomega's removable REV platform is
a proven technology that delivers performance and ruggedness that no tape
product can match. Compared to entry-level tape products like LTO-1 and
DAT160 format tape drives, the new REV 120GB Backup Drive offers more
native capacity, near instantaneous random access to files, faster backups
and restores, and ruggedized cartridges -- all at a much better drive
price. In addition, REV drives offer today's multimedia enthusiast a
limitless storage solution for libraries of content with each 120GB REV
disk holding approximately 48,000 photos, 2,000 hours of music or 12 hours
of high-definition video."
REV Technology
Iomega introduced its REV technology with the first generation REV 35GB
Backup Drive in 2004, followed by the second generation REV 70GB Backup
Drive in 2006. Iomega's REV products have earned widespread awards from the
technology media, strong support from storage software vendors and, most
importantly, a worldwide reputation for simple, reliable operation.
Designed to provide the performance of a hard drive with the
removability of tape, Iomega's patented REV technology reinvents the hard
drive by dividing its components into a drive bay and a low-cost removable
disk. The sensitive drive heads and electronics reside in the REV drive; a
hard disk platter and fluid-dynamic bearing motor are located in the REV
disk. The REV disk is designed for zero maintenance, sealed against outside
air contamination while in operation and when not in the drive. The virtual
clean room environment of the REV system is supported by automatic
head-cleaning, air filtration, and two-stage error correction for automatic
data verification.
The unique design and economics of the REV platform have caused
Iomega's REV technology to be embraced by many different vertical markets
as an ideal tape-replacement solution because of its durability,
rewriteability, reliability, and excellent price-performance. In any field
with regulatory requirements to archive records, large working files to
transfer, or business continuity needs, Iomega's REV 120GB technology is an
ideal fit.
Iomega's new REV 120GB Backup Drive features transfer rates of up to
35MB/second (max), extensive third-party software support, and an estimated
30-year archival life, while REV 120GB disks have an estimated one million
rewrite durability -- the kind of performance tape backup products can
never match. And while tape products require frequent head cleaning, tape
retensioning, and an expensive tape replacement regime, REV drives and
disks are designed for continuous reliable use with zero maintenance.
REV Technology Versus Competing Backup and Archive Formats
Reliable data backups are a necessity in most businesses today. Yet the
most common storage alternatives have limitations as backup devices.
Compared to LTO-1 or DAT160, Iomega's REV 120GB drive is up to 5 times
faster and offers at least 20 percent more native capacity, and the drive
costs upwards of 50 percent less. These advantages translate into the
lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) for cost-conscious SMBs. Savings
include reduced labor, hardware costs, and system downtime. Higher capacity
REV 120GB disks also reduce time spent changing media and provide greater
consolidation of data.
Removable HDDs, such as Go Vault and RDX, which claim a low cost of
ownership, actually require users to purchase a complete hard drive every
time data storage needs increase. With Iomega's REV technology, additional
REV disks are more economical because each disk contains only the hard disk
platter and the motor.
Where is REV Technology Used Today?
Iomega's REV products are in use today by small businesses in a variety
of different industries. Graphic design firms are using REV disks as
project disks to save and share their large files. Academic institutions
are using REV disks to store and protect students' multi-media files.
Network professionals are using REV technology as a cost-effective, random
access tape-replacement solution. Through Iomega's Thomson Grass Valley
alliance, REV drives are being used for professional video applications. As
HD content among consumers becomes widespread, Iomega expects its REV
technology to find applications with prosumers in the home as well.
Home-based businesses utilize REV for their small business files and to
back up their multimedia files. Dental and medical offices are turning to
REV to store and archive patient records, including digital x-rays.
STI Computer Services, a Pennsylvania-based VAR that specializes in the
development, sale, installation and support of medical computer systems,
has installed more than a thousand REV drives for clients, which range from
single practician offices to physician offices with upwards of 100
employees. Dan Woods, network administrator for STI Computer Services, said
the company has been moving its clients to the REV platform exclusively
since the REV 35GB Backup Drive debuted four years ago.
"We have clients up and down the Eastern Seaboard using a mix of REV
35GB and REV 70GB drives," said Woods. "Some of the larger practices were
using entry-level tape before, while some of the smaller offices didn't
have a data backup and disaster program at all. But all of them have
benefited from using REV drives to protect their patient files and other
important records. And Iomega has scaled its REV technology to meet our
needs. We're already testing the REV 120GB Drive in preparation for using
it with clients that need more storage per disk."
Over the last four years, Iomega's REV technology has been utilized in
a variety of vertical markets in the U.S. and Europe. With the debut of the
REV 120GB Backup Drive, VARs, resellers and other channel distributors are
not only focused on existing customers and markets but are also integrating
REV technology into new applications and new markets around the world.
AMAX Engineering Corporation, a Fremont, California-based value add
contract manufacturer with customers worldwide, has been selling REV
products to corporations, government and educational entities and OEM
customers since the launch of the REV 35GB Backup Drive. James Huang,
Product Marketing Manager at AMAX, notes OEM customers utilizing REV drives
in such diverse installations as network and storage appliances, servers,
semi-conductor, medical, printing, banking, and entertainment products.
"Iomega's REV products have been very good for our business and our
customers' businesses," said Huang. "We've sold thousands of REV drives to
resellers, VARs, and corporate entities that moved away from tape-based
drives or optical solutions, as well as manufacturers of products that
require cost-effective but durable and reliable backup storage. The REV
120GB Drive will be an upgrade for many of our current REV customers. We're
also bringing complete integrated storage solutions to customers in China
and the Asia market as a whole, and REV technology will play a big role in
that part of our business development and market expansion."
About REV Products
The Iomega REV product family includes REV 35GB drives and disks,
second generation REV 70GB drives and disks, and the soon-to-be-shipping
REV 120GB Backup Drive and REV 120GB disks. Iomega also has a REV
automation product, the REV Loader 560, which incorporates one REV 70GB
drive and up to eight REV 70GB disks in a convenient automated desktop form
factor for 560GB of native storage capacity.
The new Iomega REV 120GB Backup Drive will be backwards read compatible
with REV 70GB disks, meaning a REV 120GB Backup Drive will be able to read
a REV 70GB disk, allowing REV 70GB drive users a straightforward migration
path to the new REV 120GB drive and disk platform.
Valued-Add Backup Software for a Complete Solution
Iomega provides its users with complete storage solutions out of the
box. Iomega REV 120GB Backup Drives come complete with EMC(R) award-winning
Retrospect(R) Express software for automatic backup and disaster recovery.
REV 120GB server solutions ship with CA's BrightStor(R) ArcServe(R) Backup
software with disaster recovery.
Where to Buy REV 120GB Products
All Iomega REV products, including future availability of the new REV
120GB Backup Drive, are available from a large base of value-added
resellers (VARs), systems integrators (SIs) and others that work directly
with small businesses on their storage and data protection needs.
REV Product Pricing
The new Iomega(R) REV(R) 120GB Backup Drive with one removable REV
120GB disk is expected to be available worldwide in April. Iomega REV 120GB
disks are also expected to be available in April in single packs and
five-packs. Pricing for the Iomega REV 120GB Backup Drive and Iomega REV
120GB disks will be announced closer to product availability.
About Iomega
Iomega Corporation, headquartered in San Diego, is a worldwide leader
in innovative storage and network security solutions for small and
mid-sized businesses, consumers and others. The Company has sold more than
400 million digital storage drives and disks since its inception in 1980.
Today, Iomega's product portfolio includes industry leading network
attached storage products, external hard drives, and its own award-winning
removable storage technology, the REV(R) Backup Drive. OfficeScreen(R),
Iomega's managed security services, which are available in the U.S. and
select markets in Europe, provide enterprise quality perimeter security and
secure remote network access for SMBs, which help protect small enterprises
from data theft and liability. To learn about all of Iomega's digital
storage products and managed services solutions, please go to the Web at
http://www.iomega.com. Resellers can visit Iomega at
http://www.iomega.com/ipartner.
NOTE: The statements contained in this release regarding development,
production and distribution of the new Iomega REV 120GB Backup Drive and
disks, the future release of REV products, anticipated product pricing and
availability, expected product performance and specifications, future
applications for the new product and all other statements that are not
purely historical, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All such forward-looking
statements are based upon information available to Iomega as of the date
hereof, and Iomega disclaims any intention or obligation to update any such
forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from
current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such
differences include, but are not limited to, the successful completion of
product development and testing, market acceptance of, and demand for, the
Iomega product, any difficulties encountered in ramping up production or
other manufacturing issues, including component availability and pricing,
co-development, production, and distribution issues, product pricing and
conformity to specifications, dependence upon third party suppliers,
competition, intellectual property rights and other risks and uncertainties
identified in the reports filed from time to time by Iomega with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission, including Iomega's Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, and its most recent
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
* 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes.
Copyright(C) 2008 Iomega Corporation. All rights reserved. Iomega, Zip,
REV, OfficeScreen, and StorCenter are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Iomega Corporation in the United States and/or other
countries. All other trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos
referenced herein belong to their respective companies.
Media please contact:
Chris Romoser, Iomega Corporation, (858) 314-7148 romoser@iomega.com
Analyst/Investors, please contact:
Preston Romm, Iomega Corporation, (858) 314-7188
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