We don't have ATA arrays, but we do try to have as large a disk pool with
casheing as
possible.  I would love to have a couple of TB disk pool, but still put a
local tape pool and copy pool to tape.  Why the local tape pool? Just for
'when' we outrun the primary disk pool.  Good tape drives / library can buy
lots of ATA TB arrays, but they can handle more in the long run.

The right answer?  As always, it depends on the particulars of your
circumstance. [ I always hate that kind of cop out, but it is true :(  ]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Remco Post [SMTP:r.post AT SARA DOT NL]
> Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2003 3:49 AM
> To:   ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
> Subject:      Re: anyone using ATA disk systems
>
> On Wed, 23 Apr 2003 16:06:43 -0400
> "MC Matt Cooper (2838)" <Matt.Cooper AT AMGREETINGS DOT COM> wrote:
>
> > Hello all,
> > I am doing some what if research and I keep hearing that relatively
> cheap
> > ATA disk systems are RAID-5 and a good alternative to a local tape copy.
> > I was wondering if anyone has done this or can give truly educated
> comment
> > on it.   I don't know if it would be a good fit for streaming 20 backups
> > at so it may be better as a second level disk pool.   Please share your
> > knowledge of this area...
> > Matt
>
> Hi,
>
> if you expect to have a fairly small environment( <10 TB primairy copy
> pools) I think it's a good choice to buy ATA disks arrays for primairy
> storage. Prices are about $12000 for 2 TB. Remember that spinning disks do
> consume power and you do want hardware support on the disk arrays.
>
> Tape solutions are easier and proably cheaper to scale, and since you'll
> probably net a library adn drives anyways to handle the copy-storage pool,
> you'll probably find that for larger environments, having primairy copies
> on
> tape does make sense.
>
> --
> Met vriendelijke groeten,
>
> Remco Post
>
> SARA - Stichting Academisch Rekencentrum Amsterdam    http://www.sara.nl
> High Performance Computing  Tel. +31 20 592 8008    Fax. +31 20 668 3167
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