COMUNICADO DE SONY EUROPE (1)

Sony debuts S-AIT technology platform

Leading drive, tape library and media manufacturers support high

capacity format designed to meet intense enterprise class storage

needs

WEYBRIDGE (UK), 2 (PRNewswire)

Sony Corporation today announced the development of the S-AIT

format, a new tape-based data storage technology platform that will

enable up to 500GB of native capacity to be stored on a single-reel,

half-inch tape cartridge by the end of 2002.

The S-AIT drive will leverage Sony's scalable and reliable AIT

architecture in a 5.25-inch extended drive form-factor. It is

expected to deliver the industry's highest capacity tape drive,

storing up to 500GB of uncompressed data on a single tape cartridge

and featuring a sustained native transfer rate of up to 30MB per

second uncompressed.

Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics Industries, Ltd. (MKE) and

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (MEI), known for

Panasonic-brand products, will provide the market with alternative

manufacturing sources for S-AIT drives and media, respectively. In

addition, leading tape library manufacturers, such as ADIC, Qualstar

and Spectra Logic have expressed their intention to support the

integration of S-AIT drives and media into half-inch tape automation

solutions. Several of these companies are expected to join an S-AIT

Alliance under the established AIT Forum to promote the adoption and

integration of S-AIT into a wide range of storage solutions.

Based on advanced helical-scan recording technology, which is

known for its high data density, outstanding data transfer

performance, as well as reliability and durability advantages, the

S-AIT technology platform has a forward-looking roadmap with the

potential to scale to up to four terabytes of uncompressed capacity

in a single cartridge.

The first generation S-AIT drives incorporated into automation

solutions will provide uncompressed capacities ranging from four

terabytes in a 2U rack-mountable configuration to more than 500TB in

a 1,000 cartridge freestanding library.

"We've seen a remarkable escalation in the demand for storage in

recent years. With an increase in the amount of electronic data being

generated together with the explosive growth of digital content,

businesses have been looking for a technology that can meet these

demands. With the launch of S-AIT, we are offering a very scalable

and cost-effective solution," said Jon Williamson, Director of

Storage Solutions Marketing division, Sony CNCE. "By delivering up to

five times the capacity of conventional tape formats in the market

today, S-AIT marks a significant paradigm shift for tape storage."

"A wide range of industry-accepted tape storage and recording

applications, including Sony's innovative AIT format, are using

Advanced Metal Evaporated (AME) tape as one of the key enabling

technologies. With the introduction of the S-AIT format, AME

technology development has reached a new level," Fritz Handtke,

Director Marketing and Operations for Sony CNCE's Recording Media &

Energy Media division. "Essential for tape applications in the

high-duty-cycle enterprise sector, AME offers extraordinary magnetic

properties, storage density and durability."

S-AIT drives are expected to be available late next year at a

list price of under $10,000.

Key specifications of the first S-AIT implementation:

- Capacity: 500GB Native, 1.3TB Compressed (2.6:1)

- Areal Density: 720Mbit/inch2

- Transfer Rate: 30MB/sec Native, 78MB/sec Compressed (2.6:1)

- Interface: SCSI Ultra 160 / Fibre Channel

- Dimensions: 5.25-inch Full Height (Extended)

- Media: 600m AME, half-inch width tape, 1 reel cartridge, R-MIC

- Heads: Super Laminated

- MTBF: 500,000 Hours

Key features and innovations of the first S-AIT implementation:

- Helical Scan Recording Technology: helical scan recording

technologies, based on a very stable rotating drum/head platform,

permit accurate and reliable data recording at very high track

densities. This efficient packing density, typically up to five times

greater than most linear serpentine recording technologies, provides

industry leading space-efficient solutions.

- Advanced Metal Evaporated (AME) tape: S-AIT media will be based

on AME technology, which represents a culmination of over 50 years of

Sony innovation and experience in magnetic tape technology. The AME

tape formulation, with diamond-like carbon coating, offers

extraordinary durability and reliability, up to 30,000 media passes

and up to 30 years expected media archival life.

- Head Technology: HyperMetal, Super Laminate Head Technology

will provide S-AIT drives with higher signal output than conventional

heads, thereby promoting a higher level of data integrity. Based on

announced Sony R&D results, future S-AIT products may utilise MR and

GMR head technology to achieve capacities of up to 4TB per cartridge.

- Remote Memory in Cassette (R-MIC): The non-volatile R-MIC chip

built into the data cartridge provides quick media loads and allows

fast searches to data. The R-MIC chip contains the tape's system log,

search map and user-definable information, allowing the drive to

advance at high speed directly to any file on the tape.

- Reliability: The reliability of S-AIT drive systems will

result, in part, from innovative features, such as; automatic head

cleaning system and an effective "leader block" tape threading system

with a simplified tape load path. The drive cooling system is

isolated from the tape mechanism thereby limiting airborne

contaminants from entering the tape path and affecting sensitive

components.

About Sony

Sony manufactures audio, video, communications and information

technology products for the global consumer and professional markets.

With its music, pictures, game and online businesses, Sony is

uniquely positioned to become a leading personal broadband

entertainment company in the 21st century. In Europe Sony recorded

consolidated annual sales of EUR 14.90 billion (yen 1,473,780

million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001, based on an

average market exchange rate for the same period of yen 98.9 to the

EUR. Sony Europe, headquartered at the Sony Center am Potsdamer Platz

in Berlin, is responsible for the company's European electronics

business and registered consolidated sales of EUR 10.37 billion for

the fiscal year ended March 31, 2001.

Sony Core Technology & Network Company Europe (CNCE) with

headquarters in Weybridge, UK, markets optical and magnetic storage

solutions and recording media, visual solutions and semiconductors

and components. The sales channel includes OEMs and system

integrators as well as distributors, corporate resellers and

retailers. Sony is the originator or co-developer of a range of

digital storage standards, including the 3.5-inch floppy disc, the

audio CD, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD, MO, DDS (digital data storage)

tape and AIT (advanced intelligent tape). The company's long

expertise with visual technologies has enabled Sony CNCE to add

notebook cameras and fingerprint identification devices for IT

security to its range of products.

Please visit our websites: www.sony-cp.com (hardware) and

www.sony-europe.com/media (media).

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