Networker

Re: [Networker] Recommendations for new tape library?

2008-01-10 13:07:22
Subject: Re: [Networker] Recommendations for new tape library?
From: George Sinclair <George.Sinclair AT NOAA DOT GOV>
To: NETWORKER AT LISTSERV.TEMPLE DOT EDU
Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:03:37 -0500
Thanks for all the replies. Does anyone know if any of these libraries are available with SAS interface as opposed to FC or SCSI? After some discussion with my sys admins it seems that SAS is not only faster than FC, but it's cheaper, too, so why bother with FC. However, it looks like all these libraries are FC and SCSI only
based on what I could find online?

Thanks,

George

Conrad Macina wrote:
We've looked at the Sun/Storage SL-500 and the Quantum i500. Both are pretty
good, and either would be a reasonable choice for you. I can't say they're
better or worse than any of the alternatives; these are the only two we've
investigated. My perceptions of how they stack up against your requirements:

                                                          i500     SL-500

o Rack mountable                                           Yes       Yes

o At least four LTO-4 drives with room to expand up to 8.  Both exp. to 18


o Fiber channel might be preferred                          Yes      Yes
but would be nice if it could do SCSI if need be.           Yes     Not sure

o Will be connecting to RH Linux storage node server
(We didn't look at this but I can't imagine it'd be a problem)

o Ability to move tapes around using GUI panel would be      Yes    Optional
nice

o A CAP door with 1-5 slots is preferred                     Yes     Yes

Both are modular to the extent that there's a base module with 1 or 2 drives
and expansion modules with up to four drives each. Each expansion module
adds CAP slots, although they can be configured as regular slots if you need
the space. As Consumer Reports would say, "fit and finish" appear to be good
with both. We haven't had any major problems.

One thing you want to look out for is the time required to reset or power on
the library. With only four drives it won't be a lot longer than what you're
used to with your L-80, but as you add drives the reset time grows. A fully
loaded 18-drive i500 has a power-on-to-ready time of over 20 minutes and a
similarly configured SL-500 takes about half an hour. When I complained
about this to the vendors they shrugged and said, "Don't power it off."
Good luck! Please let the list know what you decide on.

Conrad Macina
Pfizer, Inc.

On Wed, 9 Jan 2008 12:02:41 -0500, George Sinclair
<George.Sinclair AT NOAA DOT GOV> wrote:

Hi,

Just looking for some feedback here. We need to procure a new tape
library soon. We have an older Storagetek L80 with
8 LTO-3 drives (79 data slots). This has worked nicely, but I don't see
us upgrading it to LTO-4 drives, although it might be possible.
Storagetek is still supporting it, but it is getting old, and we'd like
to get a new library to take us further down the road. We will remain
with LTO technology, so we plan to move to LTO-4.  I don't anticipate
moving any of the existing LTO-3 drives to the new library
via drive conversion kits (I know this can be done when working with the
same library manufacturer). We will run the L80 in parallel
for a while, however.  We're running NW 7.2.2 on a Solaris server with
two RH Linux snodes, but we will move to 7.3.x at some point soon.
Not sure if 7.2.2 even supports LTO-4.

Desired library options:
o Rack mountable
o At least four LTO-4 drives with room to expand up to 8.
o Fiber channel might be preferred but would be nice if it could do SCSI
if need be.
o Will be connecting to RH Linux storage node server
o Ability to move tapes around using GUI panel would be nice
o A CAP door with 1-5 slots is preferred

I would prefer to avoid stackable type units. I pretty much want it all
in one. We had a bad experience with one stackable style library wherein
the company stopped manufacturing the unit so we couldn't add more
drives even though they still support it for maintenance.

One thing I don't like about our L80 is that you can't move tapes around
in the library using the GUI panel on the library. Instead, you have to
use the OS.
It's really more of an annoyance than anything else. Otherwise, the L80
has been great.

Not sure how many slots we would need, but given that LTO-4 is double
the capacity of LTO-3, I suppose we could get by with 40 slots, but might
be nice to have more.

I know we will require another Authochanger license, and that's gonna
run some money, too!, not to mention the media, but at least we'll be able
to write to any new LTO-3 tapes that we still have using the LTO-4 drives.

I'm tempted to stick with Storagetek since we've had a very good
experience with them, but I am open to suggestions.

If anyone is using a newer STK library, I would be curious to learn what
you're using.

Thanks, and I would appreciate any advice or suggestions.

George

--
George Sinclair - NOAA/NESDIS/National Oceanographic Data Center
SSMC3 4th Floor Rm 4145       | Voice: (301) 713-3284 x210
1315 East West Highway        | Fax:   (301) 713-3301
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282  | Web Site:  http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/
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--
George Sinclair - NOAA/NESDIS/National Oceanographic Data Center
SSMC3 4th Floor Rm 4145       | Voice: (301) 713-3284 x210
1315 East West Highway        | Fax:   (301) 713-3301
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3282  | Web Site:  http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/
- Any opinions expressed in this message are NOT those of the US Govt. -
To sign off this list, send email to listserv AT listserv.temple DOT edu and type 
"signoff networker" in the body of the email. Please write to networker-request 
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