The new products are a SATA-only version of the company’s mid-range FastT disk array, a WORM tape cartridge and a cut-down tape cartridge. The SATA disk box is the FastT100, which will scale to 14TB. Unlike other arrays in the FastT lineup that only offer SATA as an option, the Fast100 is entirely powered by the low cost SATA alternative to Fibre Channel disk.

The new box uses the same controllers and array-based software as the rest of the FastT lineup, which IBM OEMs from LSI Logic Corp’s storage subsidiary, Engenio Information Technologies Corp.

The WORM – Write Once Read Many – tape cartridge launched this week fits the company’s 3592 tape drive. That drive is mostly associated with IBM’s high-end tape 3494 tape library, although it is now an option for the mid-range 3584 library.

The cartridge is aimed at data retention or compliance applications. It protects archived data from ever being overwritten in two ways – with signals issued from its RFID chip, and recorded in background on the tape itself.

The cut-down version of the tape cartridge includes only enough tape to store just 60GB of uncompressed data, compared to 300GB for standard cartridges, at a price about 35% lower. Smaller cartridges suit faster data recovery.

When ILM first emerged as a storage buzzword last year, IBM kept its distance. It said then that ILM was simply another way describing an approach to storage that it has practiced for some while – a claim that other vendors have also made. IBM went as far as to say that ILM is nothing more than a new way of describing HSM. During a press briefing intended to bang the drum for its storage efforts, IBM yesterday freely used the I-word. It makes no sense to invent to another term if the industry has already embraced the term ILM, said IBM storage vice president Richard Lechner.

Lechner said that unlike other vendors, IBM’s storage efforts are focused not just on ILM and content management, but on the simplification of storage management and data protection. But rivals such as EMC Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co define ILM in such a comprehensive way that it also covers those aspects of storage management.

In a wide-ranging presentation, Lechner plugged IBM’s grid computing efforts, its SAN Volume Controller and SAN File System virtualization products, and the coupling of server, storage and network management.

Linux and Java have unfettered applications from the physical server layer, and we have unfettered storage from the physical layer, Lechner said.

Technologies are emerging today that allow us to have conversations we couldn’t have had even 18 months ago, he said.

Making a transparent dig at EMC, Lechner said: If you don’t have a tape strategy and a holistic set of offerings, I don’t know how you can have a realistic conversation about ILM. EMC is notable for not having any tape products in its line-up, but according to rumor is poised to announce an OEM deal with a large tape vendor.

On the other foot, Lechner’s presentation referred to VMWare Inc’s server virtualization software as a key part of IBM’s technology. Since the beginning of the year, VMWare has been owned by EMC.