Quantum revealed plans to extend de-duplication technology across its product lines today, and hinted at ongoing integration problems with rival Sun's StorageTek acquisition.
Speaking at a financial conference in New York, Quantum CEO Rick Belluzzo identified de-duplication as one of the top priorities on the vendor's roadmap. "De-duplication technology is something that we believe is fundamental. It's important for us to move beyond traditional tape and deliver new solutions," he explained.
Rocksoft de-duplication software, which Quantum inherited as part of its recent ADIC acquisition, will form the basis of this effort. (See Quantum Takes Tape Rival ADIC and ADIC in De-Dupe Deal.) On this morning's call, Belluzzo revealed that Quantum's first de-duplication products, the DXi3500 and DXi5500 backup appliances, will be available this month, with more offerings to follow. (See Quantum Leaps Into De-Duplication.) "You will see this technology implemented in other products as we move forward," he said.
Next up will be Quantum's StorNext file system software. "We intend to take this product line and expand its market focus," explained Belluzzo. "We think that it can be a very important platform to build out data protection solutions," he said, although he did not reveal exactly when Quantum will add the de-dupe features.
De-dupe, which eliminates multiple copies of the same file and repeated blocks or segments of data within those files, is expected to be one of the hottest storage technologies in 2007. (See Top Storage Predictions for 2007, The Year of Data Protection, and Users Look Ahead to 2007.) The idea behind the technology, which is gaining more and more attention from users, is that it reduces disk consumption and bandwidth required for backups.