Review: Iomega's New Generation Of 70-Gbyte Capacity
Iomega's REV drives use removable cartridges containing hard-disk platters. They offer hard-drive-like performance with an archival shelf life of 30 years. In the same way that DVD movies need no rewinding compared with VHS tapes, REV disks offer random access capability to quickly locate specific files with no rewinding or fast forwarding ever. There's also no cleaning or maintenance required.
Disk-to-disk backup solutions offer great performance, but they typically don't back up on media that can be brought off-site for safekeeping. The REV drive offers the performance of hard-disk technology with the convenience and removable media functionality of tape drives. The 70-Gbyte REV drive is available as an external model with a USB 2.0 interface for $599.99 for the entire bundle, which includes the drive, one 70-Gbyte cartridge, cables and EMC Retrospect Express backup and recovery software. There's also an external FireWire REV drive geared toward Macs, as well as internal ATAPI and Serial ATA models that can be installed in desktop systems.
The external USB REV drive can be connected to any computer, so it's an easy way to transfer files between different systems. The drive itself weighs less than 1 pound and measures only 4.4 x 1.3 x 6.2 inches.
The REV drive's capacity is limited only by the number of cartridges a user has, so it's more versatile than external hard drives with fixed capacities. The REV drive also can be shared by multiple users, each having separate cartridges, so private data never gets into the wrong hands.
Note that the USB REV drive does not work under host power from the USB cable. It will only work with its included power supply. The REV drive therefore cannot be used with a notebook computer on battery power.
REV disks are small, measuring about 3 inches square by 0.4 inches high. They hold 70 Gbytes each, with no compression. They outperform tape cartridges such as DDS-4 and DAT-72 but cost about half as much. The 70-Gbyte REV disks cost about $250 for a pack of four, which comes out to a cost of less than $1 per Gbyte. The REV disks offer a virtually unlimited number of rewrites per disk, and data can be safeguarded by password protection and encryption. The REV cartridges are rugged enough to withstand repeated drops onto hard floors and are also resistant to dust and moisture.
The REV drive offers an average seek time of 12 ms with a spindle speed of 4,200 rpm and a data transfer rate ranging from 15 MBps to 30 MBps. The drive is plug-and-play and was tested using a notebook computer with a 1.6GHz Advanced Micro Devices Turion processor and 1 Gbyte of memory. A folder containing 10.7 Gbytes in 124 files was copied to the REV drive in 16 minutes 46 seconds. That equates to a write transfer rate of 10.6 MBps. Next, the same folder was copied back to the notebook hard drive in 15 minutes 39 seconds. That equates to a read transfer rate of 11.4 MBps. The test results were not as fast as the rated specifications but were impressive nonetheless.
Iomega's channel program offers two levels for VARs and three for system integrators. Authorized Level VARs selling $50,000 per quarter receive a 3 percent POS discount, while Premier Level VARs selling $100,000 per quarter receive a 5 percent POS discount.
Silver Level System Integrators selling $35,000 per quarter get a 3 percent POS discount, Gold Level System Integrators doing $75,000 per quarter get a 5 percent POS discount and Platinum Level System Integrators doing $100,000 per quarter get a 7 percent POS discount.
There are no costs associated with joining the channel program and demo units are offered, along with a dedicated Web portal for partners.
Iomega's Ramp It Up Program lets partners purchase select REV products with up to a 50 percent discount and select NAS products with up to a 35 percent discount, once per year.