Veritas-bu

[Veritas-bu] Tape Libraries?

2003-04-29 15:26:16
Subject: [Veritas-bu] Tape Libraries?
From: jon_bousselot AT sd.vrtx DOT com (Jon Bousselot)
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 12:26:16 -0700
We have the ADIC 10k, and mutant beast is an excellent way to describe 
it.  However, if you have 10 feet of space, and the floor to hold it, it 
sure is nice knowing that  you can put 36 drives and 1300 (DLT or LTO) 
tapes in a single case.  The two doors on front reveal the cavernous 
space inside, which makes it very easy for cable management and access 
for service.  Ours is scsi attached, and the box comes with nice cable 
guides to route the thick scsi lines out of the way.  The tape drives 
all pull straight out, and aside from the cable that is attached to the 
drive, there isn't much in the way.  To use the web console to see what 
the touch panel is doing makes it convenient if you're connecting 
remotely.  If you are patient, you can do everything on the front panel 
through the web interface, except power cycle the box.  If we had to buy 
a box now, the LTO-2 format would probably make a 10 foot wide S10K seem 
like overkill, but that happens every time a higher density tape format 
emerges.  I keep hearing about the carosel options available for the 
10k, which replace some of the standard two dimensional tape slots and 
make the library deeper instead of just wide.  Our base model came with 
700 slots active (the next increment is about $1k/100 slots / year) and 
we're only 200 tapes away from justifying an expansion.  It's all 
software licensed, so you type a few keys, then load 100 more tapes.
Spectralogic and Qualstar make some dense AIT libraries.  Now with AIT-4 
being 200G native, that's a lot of bits in a small cabinet!

-Jon

>We looked at the Gator 64000 - best TB per sq foot that we could find but
>it's AIT.  We looked at the ADIC scalar 10000 which grows like a mutant
>beast but has a big footprint.  
>
>Locally, we've got an Overland data Library express system with 9 modules.
>Starts small, grows incrementally, lets you spread costs across time.  Their
>current equivalent is the Neo line.  We've got an older Sun L3500, a
>rebadged ATL 7100.
>
>My Chicago site is built around an STK L700e which we're going to probably
>outgrow.  I was pushing for the Quantum P7000 for that site because it
>expanded better and had a better TB/sq-foot but I lost the argument.
>
>-M
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: David A. Chapa [mailto:david AT datastaff DOT com]
>Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 12:26 PM
>To: veritas-bu AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
>Subject: [Veritas-bu] Tape Libraries?
>
>
>I have a client interested in exploring new/different tape library options.
>
>First, what kind of libraries do all of you use?
>
>What's new and exciting that you are considering or have actually evaluated
>in 
>the Tape Library sector?
>
>Oh, and I'm interested in everyone's take on the Virtual Tape Library (I
>posted 
>this question as a survey to BackupScripts.com)
>
>They just asked me to do a little research...
>
>Thanks!
>
>David
>
>-------------------------------------< 
>David A. Chapa                         
>DataStaff, inc. 
>312 683 1144                 
>mailto:consult AT datastaff DOT com 
>http://www.datastaff.com     
>
>DataStaff is a principal sponsor of 
>BackupScripts.com         
>



<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>