We have had exactly the same experience.  The 9710 libraries are
outstanding, but we have had continual problems with the DLT 7000's.  They
just aren't robust enough.  And since STK manufactures the robot but the
drives are manufactured by Quantum, we have found the STK service personnel
don't have adequate tools to diagnose and correct problems with the Quantum
drives.  We are in the process of upgrading our drives to the new STK 9840
tape drives.

If you can afford it, keep the 9710's and have STK install the 9840 drives.
They are industrial-strength, enterprise class tape drives made by STK,
instead of Quantum.  We have had no problems of any kind with ours.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Neil Schofield [SMTP:Neil.Schofield AT YORKSHIREWATER.CO DOT UK]
> Sent: Monday, September 06, 1999 10:57 AM
> To:   ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
> Subject:      Tape Drive / Library Recommendations
>
> Can anoybody help me with some advice about choosing a new tape library?
>
> We implemented ADSM at the start of the year using two StorageTek
> Timberwolf 9710 libraries (238 slots) each containing 6 DLT7000 tape
> drives.
>
> I've been very pleased with ADSM, found the StorageTek completely reliable
> but have had various problems with the DLT7000 drives.
>
> We are now looking at implementing another two ADSM installations and I
> need two more libraries. My first thought was to buy the same again, but
> after doing some investigation there seem to be a lot of reasons to choose
> differently.
>
> I've been particularly impressed with the AIT-2 option. On the surface it
> looks like I could buy a similarly configured ADIC Scalar 1000 library
> with
> 6 AIT-2 tape drives for a less money, but offering very similar
> performance.
>
> I'd be particularly interested in hearing of people's experience (good or
> bad) of either the ADIC libraries or the AIT-2 drives. What are their
> strengths and weaknesses compared to STK/DLT7000?
>
> Thanks
> Neil Schofield
>
>
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