I don't know about LTO1, we have LTO2.  They are fragile, but we have not
had problems as others have described... I have dropped a few myself, and I
can testify that a drop from as little as a foot can ruin an LTO2 cart.  I
have also dropped them from waist-height (about 3 feet) with no damage.
The problem I have seen is that if the cart lands on the corner where the
tape comes out, there is a thin point in the plastic where the leader pin
slips in...  this is a weak point that can bend which causes the cart to
widen slightly at that point... but it's enough to prevent the cart from
loading.  If the damage is bad enough, the pin will fall out of its place.
I have 7 or 8 carts (out of 5600) that have failed this way.
Interestingly, I don't recall having any come back from the vault
damaged... and we do not use the jewel cases, we just load the  carts into
red turtle cases  for transport.  Pretty nice cases, though... foam lined,
they hold the carts pretty firmly.  We can fit about 36 carts in one case.
We usually ship 25-30 offsite each day.

Robin Sharpe
Berlex Labs



                      Tab Trepagnier
                      <Tab.Trepagnier@L
                      AITRAM.COM>       To:     ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
                      Sent by: "ADSM:   cc:
                      Dist Stor         Subject:
                      Manager"                  Alleged LTO fragility
                      <[email protected]
                      .EDU>


                      02/10/2006 12:51
                      PM
                      Please respond to
                      "ADSM: Dist Stor
                      Manager"





This is  a tape media question.

We are considering moving from DLT8000 to LTO-1 for offsite tape storage.

Our local IBM guys told us that LTO tapes should not be dropped more than
1/2 inch or they risk being damaged.  If you've ever watched a vault
vendor handling tapes, you know that 1/2" is pretty optimistic.

So, is that true?  Would our offsite data be at risk if our vault vendor
dropped an LTO cartridge a whole inch?

Thanks.

Tab Trepagnier
TSM Administrator
Laitram, L.L.C.