Iomega REV
Encyclopedia
REV was a removable hard disk
storage system from Iomega
.
The small removable cartridges store 35, 70, or 120 gigabytes and were based on hard-drive technology. Like a standard hard drive, the REV system used a flying head to read and write data to a spinning platter. The removable cartridges contained the platter, spindle, and motor, while the drive heads and drive controller were contained within the REV drive. The drives allowed for data transfer rates of about 25 megabytes per second.
The REV was available as an external desktop model with FireWire, SCSI
or USB 2.0 interfaces, an internal model with SCSI
, ATAPI, or SATA
interfaces, or an external Server model which features a cartridge autoloader and SCSI interface. Iomega also offered a 320 GB Network Attached Storage appliance which features a built-in REV. The drives were compatible with Macintosh, Windows
, and Linux
operating system
s, although some only with particular models or interfaces.
This product, especially the server model, was marketed as a replacement of tape drive
technology for enterprise data backup
, with claims of higher reliability, greater speed, and random access
capability.
The REV was in many ways a successor to Iomega's Jaz drive
, which used a similar removable hard-disk-platter concept. However the Jaz design did not put the drive motor in the cartridge. In some circles, REV drives were referred to as RRD, for "Removable Rigid Disk," because SCSI REV drives identify themselves as "RRD" drives to the host OS.
The drives were formatted with the UDF
file system
on Windows and Unix
/Linux
. On Apple systems, they may be formatted as HFS+ or UDF in Mac OS X
.
A similar competing technology is RDX Technology
The drives suffered from poor reliability and high failure rates of both the disk mechanism and power supply units (on the external versions). Faced with cheaper, smaller, higher capacity and more reliable USB 2.5" portable hard drives, the REV format was discontinued:
35GB - 8/31/2009
70GB - 12/14/2009
120GB - 1/25/2010
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
storage system from Iomega
Iomega
Iomega is an American producer of consumer external, portable and networking storage hardware. Established in the 1980s, Iomega has sold more than 410 million digital storage drives and disks. On April 8, 2008, EMC Corporation announced its plans to acquire Iomega for a consideration of US $213M...
.
The small removable cartridges store 35, 70, or 120 gigabytes and were based on hard-drive technology. Like a standard hard drive, the REV system used a flying head to read and write data to a spinning platter. The removable cartridges contained the platter, spindle, and motor, while the drive heads and drive controller were contained within the REV drive. The drives allowed for data transfer rates of about 25 megabytes per second.
The REV was available as an external desktop model with FireWire, SCSI
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
or USB 2.0 interfaces, an internal model with SCSI
SCSI
Small Computer System Interface is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it...
, ATAPI, or SATA
Sata
Sata is a traditional dish from the Malaysian state of Terengganu, consisting of spiced fish meat wrapped in banana leaves and cooked on a grill.It is a type of Malaysian fish cake, or otak-otak...
interfaces, or an external Server model which features a cartridge autoloader and SCSI interface. Iomega also offered a 320 GB Network Attached Storage appliance which features a built-in REV. The drives were compatible with Macintosh, Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s, although some only with particular models or interfaces.
This product, especially the server model, was marketed as a replacement of tape drive
Tape drive
A tape drive is a data storage device that reads and performs digital recording, writes data on a magnetic tape. Magnetic tape data storage is typically used for offline, archival data storage. Tape media generally has a favorable unit cost and long archival stability.A tape drive provides...
technology for enterprise data backup
Backup
In information technology, a backup or the process of backing up is making copies of data which may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form is back up in two words, whereas the noun is backup....
, with claims of higher reliability, greater speed, and random access
Random access
In computer science, random access is the ability to access an element at an arbitrary position in a sequence in equal time, independent of sequence size. The position is arbitrary in the sense that it is unpredictable, thus the use of the term "random" in "random access"...
capability.
The REV was in many ways a successor to Iomega's Jaz drive
Jaz drive
The Jaz drive was a removable disk storage system, introduced by the Iomega company in 1995. The system has since been discontinued.The Jaz disks were originally released with a 1 GB capacity in a 3½-inch form factor, which was a significant increase over Iomega's most popular product at the time,...
, which used a similar removable hard-disk-platter concept. However the Jaz design did not put the drive motor in the cartridge. In some circles, REV drives were referred to as RRD, for "Removable Rigid Disk," because SCSI REV drives identify themselves as "RRD" drives to the host OS.
The drives were formatted with the UDF
Universal Disk Format
Universal Disk Format is an implementation of the specification known as ISO/IEC 13346 and ECMA-167 and is an open vendor-neutral file system for computer data storage for a broad range of media. In practice, it has been most widely used for DVDs and newer optical disc formats, supplanting ISO 9660...
file system
File system
A file system is a means to organize data expected to be retained after a program terminates by providing procedures to store, retrieve and update data, as well as manage the available space on the device which contain it. A file system organizes data in an efficient manner and is tuned to the...
on Windows and Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
/Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. On Apple systems, they may be formatted as HFS+ or UDF in Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
.
A similar competing technology is RDX Technology
RDX Technology
RDX is a disk-based storage format developed by ProStor Systems Incorporated in 2004. It is intended as a replacement of tape storage. RDX removable disk technology consists of portable disk cartridges and an RDX dock. RDX cartridges are shock-proof and meet drop test requirements of 39 inches ...
The drives suffered from poor reliability and high failure rates of both the disk mechanism and power supply units (on the external versions). Faced with cheaper, smaller, higher capacity and more reliable USB 2.5" portable hard drives, the REV format was discontinued:
35GB - 8/31/2009
70GB - 12/14/2009
120GB - 1/25/2010
See also
- Jaz driveJaz driveThe Jaz drive was a removable disk storage system, introduced by the Iomega company in 1995. The system has since been discontinued.The Jaz disks were originally released with a 1 GB capacity in a 3½-inch form factor, which was a significant increase over Iomega's most popular product at the time,...
- Zip driveZip driveThe Zip drive is a medium-capacity removable disk storage system that was introduced by Iomega in late 1994. Originally, Zip disks launched with capacities of 100 MB, but later versions increased this to first 250 MB and then 750 MB....
- Bernoulli BoxBernoulli BoxThe Bernoulli Box was a high-capacity removable disk storage system that was Iomega's first widely-known product...
- Ditto driveDitto driveThe Ditto Drive series was a proprietary magnetic tape data storage system released by Iomega during the 1990s. It was marketed as a backup device for personal computers....
- Universal Disk FormatUniversal Disk FormatUniversal Disk Format is an implementation of the specification known as ISO/IEC 13346 and ECMA-167 and is an open vendor-neutral file system for computer data storage for a broad range of media. In practice, it has been most widely used for DVDs and newer optical disc formats, supplanting ISO 9660...
- Orb DriveOrb DriveThe Orb Drive was a 3.5" removable hard disk drive introduced by Castlewood Systems in 1999. Its original capacity was 2.2 GB. A later version of the drive was introduced in 2001 with a capacity of 5.7 GB.-2.2 GB Drive Specifications:...