Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 08:54:40 -0700 (MST) From: Don Yuniskis <dgy@rtd.com> To: nadav@barcode.co.il (Nadav Eiron) Cc: dgy@rtd.com, hal@vailsys.com, freebsd-questions@freefall.freebsd.org Subject: Re: amanda+FreeBSD+DLT, anyone? Message-ID: <199701211554.IAA12109@seagull.rtd.com> In-Reply-To: <32E4BF2E.4A73@barcode.co.il> from "Nadav Eiron" at Jan 21, 97 03:05:50 pm
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It seems that Nadav Eiron said: [questions about DLT and AMANDA on FBSD] > > > I chatted with vendors at Usenix. It looks as if entry level prices are > > > comparable for DLT and 8mm tape. If I am correct, DLT should be more > > > reliable as the tape is not in contact with R/W heads as it is with > > > helical scan such as 8mm. Someone please correct me if I am wrong! > > > > Well, the tape doesn't wrap around a rotating head, etc. like > > with 8mm. Quantum has several white papers on the subject that > > you might want to review. > > The tape/head passes expectancy of the cassette is much better (I think > something like a 100 times better). Though dropping the cartridge can be a costly mistake. > > >From what I've been able to gather, one of the most common DLT problems is > > a failure of the little "leader" tape that extracts the tape from the > > cartridge. Also, environment can be a bummer (living in dusty AZ this > > is a concern for me). > > From my experience, the only drive that ever had problems with the > leader is the ancient TZ30 (the half-height SCSI version of the 95MB > TK50 which used the same threading mechanism as the DLT). All Comments I've heard from other users and vendors point to the leader as a sore spot. Of course, it could be that the tape gets jammed and people get impatient and tug on it, etc. Of course, no one *ever* tells you when they do something stupid like that! :> > full-height drives are *very* reliable (in my experience, much more than > an Exabyte). Even if the plastic leader gets caught up in something it's > easy to open the drive and put it back in place. As for dust, I again > suspect it's better than any other tape in that respect. I've used DLTs I find it easiest just to power the transport down when not in use. Without the fan pulling air through the case, I suspect it won't be anywhere *near* as bothered... > in a truck in the middle of the desert without a glitch. When I came Yes, but was that truck there for a year or so? :> > back I've found *piles* of sand inside the drive, but it worked. It is a Someone was recently commenting about head wear that seemed to be related to the environment it was operating in. > bit sensitive to humidity though, it may give you problems if you are > working outside in the open on a cloudy mountain top (I used DLT's in > that environment too... :-). > > > Performance *ROCKS*! > > > > --don > > This is an understatement. It will probably back up your drives faster > than they can be read. Well... *almost*! --don
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