Even the longest journey begins with a first step. GRAU DATA’s path begins in 1988…
…with the mainframe-based magnetic tape robot system. At that time still under the name GRAU Automation and in the town of Böhmenkirch, the company took the first step into the world of data storage at Cebit 1988.
Later, this turns out to be a great leap: the product family of the ABBA magnetic robot system (Automatic Tape Service Archive), later AML (Automated Media Libraries), makes it to worldwide fame as the GRAU trademark thanks to its reliability and multimedia capability.
Even after the sale of the company shares to a US market participant, the path did not end for a long time.
Because without hesitating for long, Herbert Grau and Ulrich Lechner dare to make a big new start: in 1998 they bring GRAU Data Storage AG into being. The two founders realised early on that ILM (Information Lifecycle Management) and archiving would become a new megatrend alongside network backup. So they develop INFINISTORE, an integrated archiving system with a magnetic tape robot, network computer, disk storage and first-generation archiving software. The INFINISTORE systems are one of the world’s first so-called NAS (Network Attached Storage) or Archive Appliance and are installed more than a hundred times in Germany and Europe.
Since then, a lot has happened in the computer world. When Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) and second generation archiving software appear on the scene, GRAU DATA shifts its focus more towards software. The next big milestone follows promptly: In 2005, HP releases the File System Extender archiving software – an OEM product from GRAU DATA. They then close the chapter of tape robots completely and stop their production in 2007. A new chapter begins, with software in the leading role.
Countless steps along this path later, GRAU DATA is an efficient medium-sized company, rooted in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany, which markets its products worldwide. In many years of experience, the company has constantly developed itself and its products and is today known as an expert for data archiving, data protection & metadata-driven data search.