Last year we purchased a rack mount HP MSL4048 w/2 LTO4 drives and 45 slots
and 3 mailbox slots (they subtract from the 45 I believe) and dual FC
connections and so far it has worked out fine for us.   It was a hair under
$18K, but that does not include hardware encryption (another $2K).   This
was a huge upgrade for us from our old ADIC Scalar 100 SDLT based system (4
drives).   Quantum kind of dropped the ball support wise and I didn't even
look to them for another system.   I haven't had any major issues, so I
can't speak about their support other than the initial model had a loose
switch inside (I couldn't reach it to fix it), so they sent me a new
chassis.   I could have opened it up and fixed it, but that would have
voided the warranty.  I didn't time the power up (It has been awhile since I
had it turned off), but it was probably in the range of 5 minutes or so.   I
already had a rack chassis laying around and built a new server for it for
under $300.  Good luck with whatever you go with!

On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 6:01 AM, Manel Rodero <manel AT fib.upc DOT edu> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Thank you very to everybody. We're taking notes about all your comments.
>
> We know that installation of modular libraries need to be done with
> precision so the robotic is aligned correctly (something different that our
> actual standalone library).
>
> We will look at those mount, movement times between CAP and slots for each
> model. We look to authentication, monitoring and configuration of the
> libraries.
>
> I'll write to the list with the final decision
>
> At this moment the best prize is the Dell one (in the 17000€ range),
> followed by Quantum (in the 25000€ range). Next two are StorageTek (41000€
> range) and SpectraLogic (44000€ range). Some of these offers includes
> initial LTO4/Clean, others a server and others encryption software so we
> need to decide what to ask for so we can compare them.
>
> Thank you again to everybody.
>
> See you.
>
>
> Macina, Conrad wrote:
>
>> 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
>
> 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 AT listserv.temple DOT edu if you have any problems with 
> this
> list. You can access the archives at
> http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/networker.html or
> via RSS at http://listserv.temple.edu/cgi-bin/wa?RSS&L=NETWORKER
>

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 AT listserv.temple DOT edu if you have any problems with this 
list. You can access the archives at 
http://listserv.temple.edu/archives/networker.html or
via RSS at http://listserv.temple.edu/cgi-bin/wa?RSS&L=NETWORKER