Sony Gen3 PetaSite Optical Disc Archive Technology With 165TB to 2.9PB Systems

Sony Electronics Inc. announces Gen3 PetaSite Optical Disc Archive technology, which is shipping.

The archival storage solution scales from 165TB ⁽¹⁾ to 2.9PB ⁽¹⁾ of immutable optical storage in a 42U rack. This launch follows the company’s recently announced Gen3 high-capacity USB desktop drive units (ODS-D380U), FC library drive units (ODS-D380F) and 5.5TB media cartridges (ODC5500R).

ODS-D380U front and rear

The enterprise optical disc archive solution provides secure, immutable data preservation for a variety of applications and industries including corporate IT, state and local governments, surveillance, banking, education and healthcare.

ODS-D380F front and rear

In keeping with the firm’s commitment to its customers and focus on long-term archive solutions, the Gen3 enterprise 8-channel, dual-sided optical drive is write compatible to Gen2 and backward read compatible to all optical disc archive cartridges.

ODC5500R 5.5TB WORM cartridge

“Sony’s latest gen of optical drive technology addresses many issues with long-term storage, particularly with respect to its TCO,” said Theresa Alesso, president, Pro division. “Our new Gen3 system is backward compatible with previous versions of our optical drive components, which eliminates costly data migration projects and allows our customers to focus resources and dollars on other crucial business initiatives. Its low-power consumption also aligns with customers’ initiatives to drive greater storage density at lower operating costs in the data center. We are excited about these latest improvements to our industry-leading archiving solution.“

The scalable Gen3 PetaSite library family of products includes the ODS-L30M master unit, ODS-L60E drive and cartridge extension unit, and ODS-L100E cartridge-only extension unit. The master unit serves as the main building block with its 165TB ⁽¹⁾ capacity. The extension unit with drive and cartridges offers 335.5TB ⁽¹⁾ each, and the cartridge-only unit provides 555.5TB ⁽¹⁾ of storage. Up to a maximum of 5 extension units can attach to the ODS-L30M to make a 42U library with a maximum of 535 cartridges. Each unit is 7U and includes a 3-slot import/export station to load and unload media. The Gen3 media cartridges each store 5.5TB ⁽¹⁾, with an estimated shelf life of 100 years ⁽³⁾.

Optical Disc Archive Gen3 employs the company’s Archival Disc (AD) dual-sided media. The drive reads and writes both sides of the double-sided media to enable an average, read rate of 375MB/s (3Gb/s) and an average verified write rate of 187.5MB/s (1.5Gb/s). This represents a 150% improvement in performance over Gen2 drive.

Benefits of company’s ODA technology:

• Archival solutions for near-line and cold storage applications

• Optical drive performance: average read rate of 375MB/s (3Gb/s) and average verified write rate of 187.5MB/s (1.5Gb/s) ⁽²⁾

• Fast random access to data files

• Backward compatibility eliminates need for data migration

• Data integrity is assured using ‘on the fly’ verification combined with highly stable Archival Disc media

• Disc read cycle is rated more than one million times

• 100-plus year media life ⁽³⁾ for cartridge; resistant to EMP (electro-magnetic pulse), temperature and humidity changes

• WORM archive media – immutable by cyber attacks, malicious or accidental erasure, self-replicating viruses or ransomware

⁽¹⁾ Recording capacity depends on the usage environment. Actual recordable capacity may be less than indicated on the cartridge. Formatted capacity is 5.2TB per cartridge.
⁽²⁾ Performance varies based on cartridge type and client infrastructure.
⁽³⁾ Estimated average archival life as an archival bare disc by internal acceleration testing, referred to ISO/IEC16963 method.

Read also:
SC19: Sony Reveals Optical Disc Archive Gen 3 With 500GB Disc and 5.5TB Cartridge
Up to of 375MB/s and 187.5MB/s RW speeds, lifespan of “over 100 years”
November 18, 2019 | Press Release