As this has come up on the list recently, I thought this press release
might be of interest....

November 30, 1999

IBM and Advanced Digital Information Corporation (NASDAQ: ADIC) officially
announced a technology partnership agreement combining the new IBM
StorageSmart Ultrium Linear Tape-Open (LTO) tape drives and ADIC storage
products.

The OEM agreement calls for ADIC to provide IBM with a range of tape
storage devices that will incorporate the IBM StorageSmart Ultrium tape
drive. Covered under this OEM agreement are several categories of automated
tape storage devices, including single-drive autoloaders and multiple-drive
tape libraries based on ADIC?s FastStor and Scalar 100 architectures.
Current plans are for the products to be sold through a full range of
IBM-branded channels and, additionally, to IBM OEM customers.

ADIC plans to add IBM StorageSmart Ultrium tape technology to ADIC?s entire
line of tape storage products, from small desk-top models to room-sized
libraries with hundreds of drives and thousands of cartridges. These
ADIC-branded products will be marketed through ADIC?s own worldwide network
of distributors, systems integrators, and value-added resellers.

?This agreement is more than a simple OEM arrangement,? commented Barry
Rudolph, business line manager, Removable Media Storage Solutions, Storage
Systems Division. ?On a broader strategic level, ADIC and IBM are working
together to bring a range of storage solutions built around this
extraordinary new tape technology to the global community through a wide
variety of channels. We value ADIC as a technology supplier both for its
leadership in designing and manufacturing tape libraries and for its
well-established ability to market, sell and support data storage and
protection products.?

?The data explosion is creating a major challenge for IT managers,? noted
Chuck Stonecipher, ADIC president and chief operating officer. ?They need
new technology to help use, manage, and protect all of the information
being generated by the digital revolution. The IBM StorageSmart Ultrium
tape drive, with its exciting new levels of industry-leading performance
and capacity, will provide IT managers with an important new tool to meet
this challenge. We are pleased to be working with IBM to help deliver
solutions that take full advantage of this innovative,
high-performance storage format.?

In late October, IBM became the first company to launch a product based on
the LTO format, with the rollout of its StorageSmart Ultrium drive. The new
LTO technology-based drives store up to 100 GB per tape cartridge, up to
twice the capacity of currently available technology -- and transfer data
rates at up to double the rate of current generation tape drives. This
technology is designed to give IT managers a significant new option for
keeping up with the storage demands driven by explosive increases in
network data.


Glen Hattrup
Tivoli Storage Manager
Server Development Team