Storage product maker LaCie is offering a new SCSI-based addition to its Advanced Intelligent Tape (AIT) product line — the 100GB AIT3 drive. The drive can store up to 260GB of compressed data, with 100GB of “native” storage capacity available.
The new AIT3 drive provides twice the capacity of its AIT2 based predecessors, as well as double the native transfer rate — to 12MB/s. That’s a backup speed of up to 2 minutes per Gigabyte, according to LaCie. It’s also fully read and write-compatible with AIT+ and AIT2 cartridges.
The drive features an Active Head Cleaner mechanism that gets rid of contamination and debris automatically; a self-regulating fan; Memory-In-Cassette (MIC) memory chip; and more.
The new LaCie AIT3 drive is available through authorized resellers for a suggested retail price of US$4,299. The drive includes cables and 5-client Retrospect backup software from Dantz Development Corp. Cartridges run from $79.