We have 7 that are currently 6 or 7 years old and still going strong !
Two were old VTS libraries from our old MVS environment (L14's I believe is
their technical #)
        just throw away a few parts and you've got an L-12 :-)
I think all started in the area of 4 frames and most are 8 frames now.
Only the old VTS are HA libraries, all the rest have just a single accessor
(but dual grippers).
To be truthful, they will probably only be purged from the market by lack of
parts & increased cost of service only after IBM has a new line of ATL's
that they want to push out to the market and even then, other support firms
will buy old ones for parts and continue to offer service contracts.


Dwight


-----Original Message-----
From: Prather, Wanda [mailto:Wanda.Prather AT JHUAPL DOT EDU]
Sent: Friday, December 13, 2002 12:16 PM
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject: 3494 libray lifespan??


Does anybody have an idea what is reasonable to expect for the lifespan of a
3494 library?

My manager wants to know when we should budget for a new one.
But I've never heard of anybody replacing a 3494 because of age - just
upgrading to new drives!