History (1992): Up to 1TB Capacity in Plasmon MegaStor Optical Jukebox

Plasmon Data Systems (Milpitas, CA) has revealed the Reflection Systems brand MegaStor series of jukebox (with mechanism apparently from Disc Imaging System Corp.), which can accept up to 1,021 1GB erasable and/or 940MB write-once 5.25-inch optical disks.

This provides users with access to as much as 1TB on the high-end RF-1020JM.

This unit can be equipped with 4 multifunction drives and 2 cartridge changers. The MegaStor series utilizes a modular design.

“The internal subsystem consists of multiple six-inch cubicles. Each cubicle can hold either 10 optical disk cartridges or a drive unit, ” said David Karlstrom, VP marketing, Plasmon.

Typical configurations include: the RF-11 0JM, a 110GB jukebox with 4 drives and 1 changer; the RF-225JM, a 225GB unit with 4 drives and 1 changer; the RF-480JM, a 480GB jukebox with 4 drives and 2 changers. The average media exchange time is 5s, as the DISC models.

The retail price of the MegaStor jukeboxes starts at$70,000.

They accept optical disk cartridges from Panasonic, Plasmon and others.

This article is an abstract of news published on the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter on issue ≠54, published on July 1992.