History (1999): Second Gen IBM 3590

IBM has officially launched its new Magstar 3590 model, named 3590E, with native capacity doubled to 20GB per cartridge, and native transfer rate improved by just over 50%, at 14MB/s, compared to the previous 3590 model, thanks to the increase from 128 to 256 serpentine longitudinal tracks.

Shipping begins this month.

The 3590E also comes in 2 versions, an E1A library mountable and the Ell rack-mountable (with autoloader), which list respectively at $43,500 and $46,500, identical to those of the previous B1A and B11 models introduced in 1995, now reduced to $29,500 and $32,500 respectively.

UltraSCSI is the standard interface for attachment to AS/400, RS/6000, Sun Sparc and NT computers. Escon will be available at a later date.

The 3590E cartridges and drives can obviously be integrated in IBM’s 3,000-odd libraries, or in StorageTek’s 4410 and 9310 ACS robots.

Already, Big Blue is planning cartridges containing longer half-inch tape in order to increase native capacity from 20 to 40GB, although no dates have yet been mentioned.

The old 3590 devices, introduced in 1995, can be upgraded for $15,500. One important detail: the new 3590E models can read, but not write 3590 cartridges.

It’s taken Big Blue 4 years to evolve its 3590 technology. During that time, the company sold 43,000 drives and around 6 million cartridges (furnished mainly by Imation) but has signed only one compatible manufacturer, Fujitsu.

It is no simple task today for the user to choose among the various magnetic tape technologies. For mainframes, is it better to opt for the 3590E, founded on proven technology, with the first 3480, at 200MB, appearing in 1984, or to make the leap towards the brand-new incompatible StorageTek 9840 (20/10), just over $10,000 cheaper, and with better access time?

For servers, the choice is even more complicated, with the addition of DLT and 8mm, both clearly less expensive. Eventually, there will also be the LTO UItrium, with enormous capacity, slated for next year.

This article is an abstract of news published on issue 136 on May 1999 from the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter.