Company
News
QUANTUM ANNOUNCES FIREBALL PLUS KA, FIRST 7200 RPM, ULTRA
ATA/66 DRIVE WITH NEW DATA PROTECTION SYSTEM
Easy-to-use Data Protection System reduces system downtime, protects valuable data,
improves customer service costs.
MILPITAS, Calif., December 14, 1998 – Reinforcing its leadership position in
desktop PC storage and commitment to reliability, Quantum Corporation (NMS:QNTM) today
announced the Fireball™ Plus KA hard disk drive (HDD) with Quantum's new Data
Protection System (DPS).
Fireball Plus KA is a 7200 RPM Ultra ATA/66 HDD, in capacities ranging from 6.4 GB to
18.2 GB, that combines Quantum's fastest desktop performance with all of Quantum's
reliability innovations including the award winning Shock Protection System (SPS™)
and the new Data Protection System (DPS).
The Quantum Data Protection System quickly and easily determines Quantum hard drive
functionality in PCs that exhibit system failure.
"Reports vary from drive maker to drive maker, and also vary by customer type and
channel, but we estimate that well in excess of 50 percent of the hard disk drives
returned to manufacturers for repair or replacement are not actually defective,"
according to John Monroe, chief analyst for rigid disk drives at Dataquest.
"Quantum's DPS will help system users to protect their data," said Young
Sohn, president, Enterprise and Personal Storage Group (EPSG) at Quantum.
"Additionally, DPS and SPS will reduce customer service costs for our OEM,
distribution and reseller partners."
"Considering that a significant number of returned drives are not defective,
Quantum's Data Protection System (DPS) will bring an advantage to HP customers. This
feature will allow HP to offer superior customer service while lowering support
costs," said Bruno Duverge, customer satisfaction manager, Hewlett-Packard,
Commercial Computing Division.
Data Protection System is resident on the Fireball Plus KA, the recently announced
Fireball CR, and will be available on future generations of Quantum HDDs. In addition, DPS
will be available on Quantum's web site for downloading to test all Quantum desktop drives
built during the last 2½ years.
"Quantum's DPS, by accurately assessing the functionality of the disk drive when a
PC malfunctions, will result in lowering the potential of putting someone's productivity
and their data at risk by removing the disk drive," said Young Sohn.
"Additionally, DPS will improve productivity for our distribution and reseller
partners by pinpointing the true system problem at the customer site, and reduce customer
service costs."
"Identifying the true source of a system failure when it happens is critical to
keeping our business running efficiently," said Tom Thomas, senior vice president and
CIO, 3-Com Corp.
"It is essential that our customers maintain the highest levels of system
utilization and DPS will help us achieve this by reducing the system downtime due to
incorrect diagnosis of drive problems," said Edward Gurary, CEO of Legend Micro, a
value added reseller. "Quantum's hard disk drive reliability innovations, such as
Shock Protection System and DPS, have helped us expand our market and provide even greater
efficiency in our customer support operation which differentiates us from the VAR across
town."
Fireball Plus KA is available in capacities of 6.4 GB up to 18.2 GB and features
magnetoresistive (MR) heads and 8.5 millisecond (ms) average seek time for fast
throughput. Sohn said, "Fireball Plus KA offers workstation HDD performance for
desktop systems with innovations like SPS, and now DPS, that surpass customer expectations
for quality and reliability."
Pricing and Availability
Quantum's Fireball Plus KA is backed by a three-year limited warranty. Fireball Plus KA
drives are available for customer evaluation with full volume availability in late first
quarter 1999. Estimated retail pricing for the 18.2 GB is $399.00
About Quantum
Founded in 1980, Quantum Corporation (www.quantum.com) is a diversified mass storage
company with leadership positions in both fixed and removable storage markets. Quantum is
the highest volume global supplier of hard disk drives for personal computers, a leading
supplier of high capacity hard drives and the worldwide revenue leader among all classes
of tape drives. The company sells a broad range of storage products to OEM and
distribution customers worldwide. Quantum's sales for the fiscal year ending March 1998
were $5.8 billion.
The foregoing statements regarding future technology and products, the capabilities,
availability, and potential for reduced costs based on those products are forward looking
statements and actual results could vary. Factors which could affect actual results
include the successful completion of remaining development efforts, the ability to
successfully incorporate new technology into products, market acceptance of the products,
the price/performance characteristics of the products and competitive product offerings.
Quantum and the Quantum logo are trademarks of Quantum Corporation, registered in the
United States and other countries.
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