So far, companies were dependent on lower memory capacities. With the advent of the new technology, corporates will have the advantage of higher memory capacity and superior disaster recovery.

HP, in association with Seagate and IBM, had designed the new standards, which are meant to surpass the current tape capacity and performance benchmarks while maintaining the highest data integrity. These licencees of technology are now competing with each other to grab the market with better versions.

In today's complex scenario, MIS managers face a tough time due to system failures leading to mass loss of data. Companies like IBM and Seagate have been working on safer and reliable back-up systems, leading to the new standards in tape storage.

A worldwide survey has shown that in thecase of system and back-up failures, around 60 per cent of small companies do not recover data if they have experienced more than 10 days' down time. In such a scenario, effective back-up becomes very important.

Commenting on the new product, SureStore DDS (digital data storage), HP general manager Jack Trautman said the new product in the Ultrium has a built-in one-button disaster recovery. Even if the operating system has been erased, the disaster recovery mode allows the entire data and OS to be built back from any recent back-up cartridge.

"The one cartridge approach makes it simpler to use and because there is a complete copy of the system configuration and data on the tape, the OS disks do not need to be updated when the system is upgraded, meaning that the potential for confusion is minimised," said Trautman, one of HP's top executives worldwide.

The LTO technology has two open-format specifications, Accelis and Ultrium, as not all users need the same features and functionality. Ultrium caters tothe higher end with a 200 gb capacity using a single-reel system while the Accelis format is a dual-reel system with a 50 gb storage system.

Further, the Accelis is expected to product access time of under seven seconds capacities up to 400 gb compressed while the Ultrium will achieve capacities up to 1.6 terabytes compressed.

The trio had drawn up a 10-year roadmap in LTO technology and set up an independent licensing authority. "Fujitsu had taken the fourth license and many more may follow," Trautman said.

The pricing will be very competitive, he said without elaborating. The speed at which the data can be written on the tapes is as high as 10-20 megabytes per second. These tapes will have options and channels for future technologies.

Trautman said that India will be the largest market for such products in Asia. "We would like to have a marketshare of 85 per cent in India and around 51 per cent worldwide," he said. HP is focussing on petroleum companies, telecom, government agencies and Indian armsof MNCs as potential customers.

It is also planning to set up dedicated human resources for the promotion and pricing will be in rupee terms, he added. "We are talking to OEMs to gain the initial penetration in India," Trautman said.