Iomega has announced its newest storage offering, the 120GB Backup Drive with third-generation REV technology. The drive is especially designed to mix the performance features of hard-disk drives with the hot-swap capabilities of tape drives, for simple and safe operation.

The new REV 120GB Backup Drive comes with updated transfer rates that can reach up to 35MB/second and an estimated 30-year archival life. The REV 120GB disks can support up to one million rewrite cycles, which is much more than tape backup products can offer. More than that, while tape requires heavy maintenance, such as head cleaning, tape re-tensioning or even replacement, the REV disks are completely maintenance-free: just plug in and start rolling.

Iomega's REV technology has been introduced back in 2004 with the first generation REV 35GB Backup Drive. The company's proprietary technology allows it to re-invent the hard disk drive by dividing it into two segments: a drive bay (the REV drive) and a low-cost removable disk (the REV disk). While the extremely fragile rive heads and electronics are housed inside the REV drive, the hard disk platter and fluid-dynamic bearing motor are integrated in the REV disk itself.

The REV disk is completely isolated from external environment factors, such as air or dust when it is not plugged into the drive. The REV system automatically cleans the drive's heads and filters the air in order to preserve a virtual clean room environment inside the unit.

According to Tom Kampfer, president and COO of the Iomega Corporation, the REV drives have rendered tape backup obsolete. "Compared to entry-level tape products like LTO-1 and DAT160 format tape drives, the new REV 120GB Backup Drive offers more native capacity, near instantaneous random access to files, faster backups and restores, and ruggedized cartridges - all at a much better drive price."

He also claimed that the REV disks are a viable storage solution not only for the industrial environment, but for multimedia enthusiasts as well, as each 120GB REV disk can store about 48,000 photos, 2,000 hours of music or 12 hours of high-definition video.