On Mon, Aug 07, 2006 at 11:46:16AM -0400, Martin, Jonathan (Contractor) wrote:
> Does anyone have any guidance on this issue or interaction with both
> types of drives?  We're looking into upgrading our aging quantum library
> here and trying to put together a business case for one over the other.
> I like the 800GB per tape and higher transfer speeds of LTO3, but being
> an SDLT220 shop now, I'm keen on the SDLT 600 backwards compatibility.

We were in the same situation and what we did was to add a bunch of LTO3
drives and retire all but a couple of SDLT 220 drives.  

> I haven't priced tapes yet, but that could also be a determining factor.

Yup.  Cost per MB is far cheaper on LTO3 than SDLT600.  Whether you
purchase SDLT 600 or LTO3, you'll be replacing all of your media.

The LTO3 drives are cheaper.  The media is cheaper.  The drives are
faster.  Even Quantum recommends the LTO3 drive for day-to-day
operations.

> Any real world horror stories or analysis anyone had done would be
> appreciated.  From what I gather reading the list mostly everyone has
> gone LTO / I don't think I've seen SDLT 600 mentioned once!?

SDLT is a dying technology...

        .../Ed

-- 
Ed Wilts, Mounds View, MN, USA
mailto:ewilts at ewilts.org