Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Fri, 7 May 1999 09:17:22 -0700 (PWT)
From:      Matthew Jacob <mjacob@feral.com>
To:        Karl Denninger <karl@Denninger.Net>
Cc:        freebsd-scsi@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Question - Onstream SCSI Streamer
Message-ID:  <Pine.LNX.4.04.9905070907070.516-100000@feral.com>
In-Reply-To: <19990507110558.A614@Denninger.Net>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help

> > 
> > Yes.
> 
> Given that I could write either one dump per tape, or with dump (which 
> knows what its reading and writing, therefore doesn't really "need" 
> filemarks, right?) it would work - no?
> 
> How difficult would it be to fix just that part of things, and would it get
> the desired result (usability with dump only)?

Possibly easy if you just cut for this device only. I mean, it's just
software. But I certainly wouldn't go this route. 

> 
> > > Software filemarks (the drive doesn't know how to write them?!) could be a 
> > > bigger problem.
> > 
> > Yes. Onstream has said that they want to specify more carefully what the
> > soft filemarks will look like.
> 
> Grrr...

No, this is a good thing. This means that if they improve (they'd
*better*!) their h/w so that filemarks etc. are done in h/w there has to
be a compatibility with tapes written with 'soft' marks- so a known format
should be decided on.

> 
> > > > > I'm willing to take a look at this (since I have one) provided I can wrangle
> > > > > enough information to actually do so.
> > > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > I'm waiting for that information  myself.
> > > 
> > > Hmmm... that sounds like an indefinite timeframe.
> > 
> > No- they've said they'd get that information and unit to me RSN. I believe
> > they're doing the manual this month. I expect to get a unit and a manual
> > by the end of June at the latest. It'll take a couple weeks of work I
> > suspect- there's more than just the rewind, etc..But no promises.
> 
> Well that's quite the pickle for me...

Sorry.

> 
> > > Does anyone have hacks to get even partial functionality?  I'm flat-out of
> > > reasonable options with the DATs that I've been using (you know, the old
> > > "data grows" problem) and I've got the fun problem of either finding a
> > > solution to this via the ADR drives or returning it and going with DLT
> > > (about 4x the price).
> > 
> > Oddly enough I've found the HP T20 Travan-5 a reasonable price performer-
> > but if you're saying a DDS3 isn't doing it for you, that's not an option.
> > What's the limiting factor? Cost? At 12GB nominal per tape for a DDS-3
> > you'll need 4-5 to match each Onstream cartridge- so you get a bigger
> > jukebox.
> 
> Running dumps to a juke doesn't work if a single filesystem doesn't fit 
> on a tape.  Unfortunately I am in the position of having a lot of already
> compressed files on big disks and filesystems.
> 
> The result is that a single filesystem dump doesn't fit on one tape.
> Therefore, I can't run anything on automatic.  This is a serious problem
> from a standpoint of actually getting the dumps done.
> 
> 60 days is not a good timeframe for me; I'll live if I have to, and probably
> will keep the drive in that instance, but even partial functionality would
> serve since my needs are only for dump(8) to work.

Why don't you go to multivolume dumps or use a different backup application?






To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-scsi" in the body of the message




Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?Pine.LNX.4.04.9905070907070.516-100000>