I have experience with the Sun/StorageTek SL-500 and the Quantum i500. In 
general I find them comparable, with a very slight edge to the Quantum. I agree 
100% with Michael that either model is much slower than the old StorageTek 
L-series.

What really bugs me is the power-on-to-ready time, which is about 30 minutes 
for a fully equipped SL-500 and 20 minutes for a loaded i500. A maxed out L-700 
took less than three minutes. And don't believe your salesman when he says, 
"This unit is so reliable you'll never have to experience a power-on-to-ready 
cycle."

While I sympathize with Scott about his SL-500 reliability issues, I agree with 
Preston that Scott's experience is likely due to what Consumer Reports calls a 
"sample defect" or an installation procedure gone horribly wrong. My experience 
is that both the SL-500 and i500 are extremely reliable, at least as much so as 
the old L-series, which very rarely had any problems.

What I think this thread illustrates very well is that each model has its 
adherents and detractors, all with good reason. My advice to you is to choose 
on the basis of:
* Price;
* Slot count (Will having only 30 slots have an impact on your operations vs. 
having 40?);
* CAP port count (Is it significant to be able to move 6 tapes at a time vs. 
5?);
* Tape movement speed (power-on-to-ready, slot-to-drive, drive-to-slot and 
slot-to-CAP);
* Remote monitoring and control (How much can you do from the Web interface? 
* Can you use any browser or do you have to install software on each PC?);
* User authentication (local or AD/LDAP?) 
* Is the ability to partition the jukebox (make one unit look like multiple 
independent ones) important to you, or even desirable?
* Does updating the firmware require a library outage?

There are probably many more criteria, but it's important to make your decision 
based on the ones that are important in your particular environment. Here as in 
most things, one size doesn't fit all.

Good luck, and please let the list know what you decide.

Conrad Macina
Pfizer, Inc.



-----Original Message-----
From: Manel Rodero [mailto:manel AT FIB.UPC DOT EDU] 
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 6:47 AM
Subject: Upgrade to LTO4 library, opinions about these libraries ?

Hello,

We're evaluating different offers por changing our old library (a 
Qualstar TLS6460 with 60 slots/4 drives SDLT320) to a new LTO4 library 
with FC interfaces.

Our initial idea is to connect the library (i.e. its 2 initial LTO4 
drives) directly to the server using a dual channel HBA interface, but 
we are evaluating the connection to our SAN too (for having some hosts 
direct backup to the library like storage nodes).

We have different offers by our providers and we would like to hear your 
opinions about these libraries (support, problems, evolution, etc.):

* SpectraLogic Spectra T120 (30 slots, 2xLTO4,
* Quantum Scalar i500 (41 slots, 2xLTO4, I/O magazine 6 slots)
* Dell PowerVault ML6010 (41 slots, 2xLTO4, I/O magazine 6 slots)
* Sun StorageTek SL500 (30 slots, 2xLTO4, CAP magazine 5 slots)

Thank you very much!

-- 

o o o  Manel Rodero Blánquez             | LCFIB - FIB - UPC
o o o  IT System Manager                 | Campus Nord - Modul B6
o o o  Barcelona School of Informatics   | Jordi Girona, 1-3
U P C  Technical University of Catalonia | 08034 Barcelona (Spain)
                                          |
        manel AT fib.upc DOT edu                 | Tel: +00 34 93 401 0847
        http://www.fib.upc.edu/           | Fax: +00 34 93 401 7040

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