Bus-Tech Intros MDL 6000

BURLINGTON, Mass. -- Today, Bus-Tech, Inc., a leading supplier of data center connectivity products announced the introduction of the Mainframe Data Library (MDL) model 6000. The new model boasts of throughput in excess of one GB per second, four gigabit FICON support, 1,536 emulated tape transports and enhanced availability features. The MDL-6000 features from three to six independent emulation nodes; each of which support two FICON or three ESCON channel adapters and emulate up to 256 mainframe tape drives.

In conjunction with the new model Bus-Tech also announced the release of version 6.0 of its Virtuent software; the powerful engine common to all MDL models. The MDL is a family of revolutionary virtual tape controllers for IBM and compatible mainframes.

Achieving a 30% improvement in overall throughput, these products provide enterprise data centers with lower tape processing costs, improved end-user service levels, innovative disaster recovery alternatives and the ability to include compliant storage in their mainframe environment.

As part of the product announcement the Mainframe Appliance for Storage (MAS) has been renamed the MDL-2000 and the MAS Entry has been renamed the MDL-1000. This renaming along with the existing MDL-4000 and the new MDL-6000 offers a wide range of mainframe VTL solutions for any size installation.

The MDL family of products is virtual tape controllers that attach directly to the mainframe via FICON or ESCON input/output channels and use standard Gigabit Ethernet or Fibre Channel to attach to open systems storage. A fully populated MDL-6000 (with 12 FICON Ports) offers over one GB/second throughput. Multiple MDLs can be coupled to meet even greater performance requirements; enough to meet the most demanding mainframe tape processing needs.The MDL provides multiple independently operating Emulation Nodes to insure the highest availability possible. Each Emulation Node provides a minimum of 2 FICON or ESCON channel interfaces and a fully populated MDL-6000 emulates up to 1,536 mainframe tape drives. All of the MDL models include SNMP enhancements to monitor and report on all hardware components as well as in-line data encryption and IDRC initiated compression functionality.

“With the inherent increase in performance and port count density and enhanced availability profile in this new release, the MDL product family will give our customers complete flexibility in deploying the properly sized mainframe tape solution for any environment,” said Bus-Tech President Al Brandt.

Bus-Tech Inc.