nsm galaxy jukebox

NSM Jukebox, for several years running the undisputed heavyweight champion of the high-performance optical subsystem arena, has now weighed in with its new one-two punching NSM Galaxy. The first NSM system to debut with both CD and DVD support, it closely resembles other products in the NSM line, while still breaking much new ground in the 120mm jukebox arena. We are impressed with the system's performance with its stellar combination of multiple host adapters and abundant drives. And it achieves all this within NSM's established compact footprint and trademark high capacity. Kudos once again to NSM.

If you're familiar with the NSM product line, the Galaxy may make you double-take when you see that it combines the hardware of the company's Mercury line with hardware from its Satellite jukeboxes. This means that the device supports both the 50-disc magazines from the Mercury as well as the smaller, fifteen-disc data packs from the Satellite.

Thus, the Galaxy is not a completely new device coming to market. By retaining the sturdy and fast robotics along with the same magazines as its distinguished antecedents, the Galaxy boasts many features we have celebrated before. That continuity also ensures that users and resellers will already be familiar with most of the unit's functions, which should make for a smooth generational transition. Using the same magazines as its siblings in the NSM stable, the Galaxy becomes an easy upgrade or a seamlessly integrated addition to NSM user sites.

But the Galaxy does more than repeat past glories. The new model clearly reflects NSM's attention to contemporary demands for jukebox vendors to increase capacity as well as performance. NSM must have been reading the same projections that drove JVC to create their 600-disc Duplicator [See review, November 1998--Ed.], demonstrating a keen awareness that capacity counts. They've also joined JVC in pushing the envelope for writable storage in an optical jukebox system, venturing one step beyond with built-in support for newcomer DVD-RAM.

17 bays!

Like any ambitious print magazine, a jukebox system's bottom-line goal--whether magazine-based or not--is to add more readers. So while the Galaxy's high capacity and DVD support are noteworthy, neither one is the system's most outstanding feature. What makes the Galaxy remarkable is its support for up to 17, count 'em, 17 drives as the system's maximum capacity. This almost triples the number of available drives in any other jukebox. Clearly, NSM took note of user complaints about reader-to-user ratios in jukeboxes.

The Galaxy does offer a range of drive configurations with all those bays. It will handle up to 14 readers in a single system, or read/write combinations of up to 6 CD-R drives with 11 readers or 3 CD-Rs and 14 readers in a single unit. The same kind of mix applies to the use of DVD-RAM/DVD-ROM drives.

Adding readers wouldn't help if the system didn't also support more adapters, and the Galaxy uses a triple SCSI bus to maintain throughput. We applaud this enhancement in jukebox technology, where many systems still only use a single SCSI bus. We have noted in the past that the number of adapters a given system supports isn't always mentioned or highlighted by vendors. We have seen high-capacity MO jukeboxes with only a single host adapter, as well as large CD-ROM jukeboxes with only two. Multiple buses are a requirement for satisfactory network use.

We tested a 10-reader, six-recorder system for this review, and we definitely appreciated the higher drive numbers on the network. In fact, the Plextor 32X CD-ROM readers onboard were often quite capable of maintaining constant throughput to satisfy all network user requests. Our tests read a set of 500KB and 2MB files, so the Galaxy could load, read, and deliver data to our NT server with no delay while waiting for drives, as would be the case in a four or six-drive system.

The CD-R drives are Plextor's 12X read/4X write units, while the DVD-RAM drives will be Toshiba's SD-W1101s with a stated throughput of 2.7MB/sec reading DVD-ROM and about half that (1.35MB/sec) for reading DVD-RAM.

These drives, like all drives in NSM jukeboxes, have been extensively modified by NSM for durability. (They replace most of the moving plastic parts with metal.) Replacing the drives then cannot be done with store-bought units. Rather, the field-replaceable drives require the higher-cost NSM-supplied components. The alternative is to go with a jukebox that uses commodity drives instead.

Which is preferred? We suggest you measure the impact of downtime on your bottom line. If downtime isn't a significant issue, then a commodity approach may be better. However, if downtime costs, then the NSM-rebuilt drives are the best way to go. They are rock-solid and will reduce or eliminate downtime with the Galaxy.

another one rides the bus

As mentioned earlier, drives installed in the Galaxy feed into three SCSI host adapters, thus providing the type of throughput that the reader/recorder combination would naturally require (but rarely enjoys in a jukebox system). The system can actually use up to six host adapters when running 14 DVD-RAM drives. We recommend you analyze your data throughput needs, but count on needing at least one adapter for every two CD-R recorders installed to maintain decent throughput.

We were not able to test any DVD-RAM capabilities in the evaluation Galaxy system we had, so we cannot comment on possible throughput demands or benchmarks for those devices. However, with six host adapters, the 14-drive DVD-RAM configuration is only slightly more drives per adapter than the CD-R configuration we tested, so we do not anticipate significant differences with the DVD-RAM version.

a fan's notes

Another first for the Galaxy, at least in NSM circles: it includes a fan. This fan, however, is only used for the redundant power supplies in the jukebox. The fan does circulate air around the drives, but only on the outside in a plenum effect, and not in the robotics space where discs would be exposed to moving dust. The unit continues to rely on convection for heat transfer from the recorders through the metal chassis to keep temperatures manageable.

In weeks of continuous testing in the past, we have never had any difficulty with NSM systems due to heat problems.

where the galaxy Xtends ...

We tested the Galaxy on a Microsoft NT server using OTG's CDXtender v2.02 software, which is currently the only package supporting the system. However, NSM states that the other major jukebox management software vendors will also have support for the Galaxy once the product ships.

As we are looking at the hardware here, we can only mention briefly that the OTG software is fast, and provides a clean, effective interface to the multiple capacities in the jukebox for both read and writing data.

We particularly loved the event-controlled recording capability, where we could set the system to automatically record on disc after a size or time threshold was reached, or if a certain interval of time had passed.

pick your pack

Two old and borrowed elements of the Galaxy are the 15-disc magazine used in the Satellite jukebox line and the 50-disc packs found in the Mercury. The Satellite-style 15-disc packs can be hot-swapped in and out without requiring a reboot of the system or a recataloging of the entire disc library. We have highlighted this feature in the past as a preferred solution for network use.

The 15-disc packs in the Galaxy provide about 39GB of storage each, which is roughly the capacity of common DLT tape cartridges. With the proper software, we feel the Galaxy could serve effectively as an ideal archiving tool alongside of a tape or hard disk system. Maintaining a library of one data pack per hard disk seems a comfortable fit.

The Galaxy also supports the NSM 50-disc magazine. These are more suited for large databases and other content discs or multiple CD-R blanks as the magazine can be bulk-loaded before placing them in one of the internal bays. Naturally, users of earlier NSM products will feel right at home with the Galaxy since these same data packs and magazines are used in those products as well. Sharing them with the Galaxy is no problem, so an extensive library of CD-ROM or DVD is sharable across the product lines.

no-double trouble?

The Galaxy's robotics support only single-sided media--not a serious concern today, but one that will prove increasingly vexing when more DVD-ROM titles ship with date on both sides (since virtually all DVD-10 titles currently in the channel are widescreen and standard versions of Hollywood movies, accommodating these discs don't pose much worry for NSM and the Galaxy's target market). The system also shows NSM continuing its steadfast allegiance to using caddies for holding the discs, thus precluding the use of a robotic flipper mechanism to allow for rotating double-sided discs before inserting them into a reader.

NSM recognizes these issues, but argues that it will take some time for actual production double-sided discs to penetrate the market, so support for these discs isn't critical for most users. They also state that a flipper mechanism would be inherently heavier than a picker mechanism (true enough) and therefore would be slower than the current robotics. This in turn would impact the already slower performance of the jukebox when compared with CD-ROM towers. (Since NSM has the fastest robotics, we can understand their reluctance to reduce its capabilities.) Finally, supporting dual-sided would reduce the total capacity of the box--just when users are demanding larger, not smaller, capacities in jukeboxes.

We do agree that for sites requiring a read/write archiving system, the exact capacity of individual discs becomes less important than the overall capacity of the system. A system that supports almost 3TB of data is more inline with contemporary network demands than one that only supports 1TB or less, regardless of the media used.

Users looking forward to video releases or databases on double-sided DVD may want to think about solutions from other vendors, such as Pioneer. Their system is designed around the concept of double-sided media, even though their robotics handle only single-sided media right now. We'll explore the Pioneer in a future review, but for now we can say that the Pioneer jukebox could incorporate a flipper mechanism to rotate media without extensive modification.

a must-have upgrade

The Galaxy is an outstanding product from NSM, which clearly isn't resting on its laurels (after all, the Satellite was an Editor's Choice already.) If there's a small drawback to the Galaxy, it is its lack of potential for double-sided media. Sites requiring this support therefore may want to invest in a Pioneer or Plasmon jukebox instead.

However, the Galaxy is simply a must-have upgrade for sites already using earlier NSM jukeboxes. Also, the system's support for a vast number of drives (with multiple SCSI host adapters) makes it also a preferred solution for network sites, where multiuser requests can crush a four- or six-drive system. This will be especially important to ISPs and other Web hosts, where an unhackable data storage system like CD-ROM/DVD-ROM is ideal. (But unworkable with only a half-dozen readers.) The Galaxy's support for 14 readers therefore will break open new markets for the 120mm format and may prove, by year's end, the essential tool for networked databases and information archives.

nsm galaxy jukebox

synopsis: The NSM Galaxy extends NSM's traditional leadership in the jukebox market into the DVD-RAM realm, and does its distinguished ancestry proud. The Galaxy is simply a must-have upgrade for sites already using earlier NSM jukeboxes. Also, the system's support for a vast number of drives (with multiple SCSI host adapters) makes it a preferred solution for network sites, where multi-user requests can crush a four- or six-drive system. This will be especially important to ISPs and other Web hosts, where an unhackable date storage system like CD-ROM/DVD-ROM is ideal. (But unworkable with only a half-dozen readers.) The Galaxy's support for 14 readers therefore will break open new markets for the 120mm format and may prove, by year's end, the essential tool for networked databases and information archives.

price $19,995

560-disc/14-reader CD-ROM system

$40,995

410-disc/17-drive DVD-RAM system

NSM: Jukebox, Inc., Satellite Place, 2405 Commerce Avenue, Suite 200, Duluth, Georgia 30096; 800/383-5853, 678/475-1851; Fax 678/475-1852; http://www.nsmjukebox.com; INFOLINK #417

David Doering (dave@techvoice.com), columnist for THE NETWORK OBSERVER and contributing editor for EMedia Professional, is also senior analyst with TechVoice Inc., an Orem, Utah-based consultancy.

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