Your questions on the drive don't make sense unless you are talking about a
LTO library as most physical interactions with drives usually rely on a couple
of buttons(and maybe a lever).

Competing with DLT they do well as they are a newer, faster, more economical 
tape
format, but they do have their weak points:
Long seek times
Long unload times.
Worse start/stop characteristics

Don't let the above comments put you off. I can make a longer, more profanic, 
list
of problems with DLT tapes.
Look at your backup requirements, if you have a need for volume data with a
relative budget, it's for you.

If I was to repeat the exercise of choosing from scratch again, I would pick
LTO. We can't afford 3590 and we have lost confidence in DLT.

Cheers, Suad
--
On Thu, Jul 19, 2001 at 10:07:02AM -0400, Bill Wheeler wrote:
On Thu, Jul 19, 2001 at 10:07:02AM -0400, Bill Wheeler wrote:
> Hello All,
>
>         I have seen over the list that there are a group of people that use
> LTO tape drives.   We are looking into purchasing one to work with our
> system.  I was wondering what type of feedback there is about these drives.
> Are they easy to work with, worth purchasing, making life easier for all...
> Any information would be helpful.
>
>
> Thanks in Advance,
>
> Bill Wheeler
> AIX Administrator
> La-Z-Boy Incorporated
> bill.wheeler AT la-z-boy DOT com <mailto:bill.wheeler AT la-z-boy DOT com>