Tape Backup Solutions
these days, since disk drives are dense anc cheap and tape is so expensive, people are choosing to just backup to RAID boxes instead. RAID striping with parity allows you to lose a drive and still retain your data: you just plug in a new drive, and execute a rebuild (your instructions may vary). I tend to stay away from DLT due to its tendency to suck the catch into the drive and require the drive to be sent in to service to get the tape out if the loop isn't in just the right place. Apparently LTO is less prone to this, but a tape can still get stuck in the drive which will require a service call. LTO & VXA also minimize back-hitching (rewinding). With DLT's I was always advised to pull the loop/catch on the tape out slightly so that the drive would catch it. alas, I don't remember how much. This advice didn't do any good in the autoloader - upon rewind it would be right back where it was. LTO has become a popular solution compared to DLT and AIT.
LTO problems, DLT problems, AIT Problems, DAT problems
LTO problems, DLT problems, AIT Problems, DAT problems
IOMEGA 35GB(90GB compressed) tape drive $380-$400 & (21) $10 Fuji 125m 4mm data tapes &
ethernet IOMEGA RevLoader560 560GB(1.12TB compressed) Rev disk jukebox $1800 & (2 packs) $249.96 IOMEGA 70GB Rev Disk 4pak
if this is anything like zip disks, it is not to be used for high data traffic. backups only. I don't know. for this price, you might as well just buy a RAID box for less cost & longer term storage.
stores 50GB. ATAPI (PATA?) interface. the price has come down from $1000. "Takes hours to burn a disc". blu-ray drives will double in capacity to a max 100GB as time goes by. then the burn time will be 2 hours, unless MFRs start using the SATA-II interface for burners. Unless you need it for backup purposes or plan to make your own Blu-Ray movies, I wouldn't just go out & get one of these, because as of feb2007 the movie industry hasn't settled on HD, Blu-Ray, or some other standard altogether. high data rate compared to cd or dvd. prices are coming down. media is still more expensive than tape.
AIT-5 8mm Tape Drive $2800 & (1-2) $75 400GB (1.04TB compressed) AIT-5 Media & cleaning tape (you will need a LVD SCSI adapter, cable, & terminators)
Sony SAIT-1 500GB (1.3TB compressed) tape drive, and WORM tapes $170 available at pcconnection $5169, taperesources $6215
a bigger better AIT drive except that there's no RW media for it yet after 5 years. down the line in double the capacity each there will be SAIT-2, SAIT-3, SAIT-4. SAIT-1 (500GB) was released in 2002 and nobody has gotten around to releasing SAIT-3 (2TB), which should have been released 2006 or 2007. SAIT-2, which was slated to be 1TB, actually became 800GB. Sony is dropping SAIT-1.
AIT-5 6.4TB(16.64TB compressed) 16-slot autoloader rackmount library $5545 & (16+) 400GB (1.04TB compressed) AIT-5 Media $75/1 & cleaning tape $73/1 (you will need a LVD SCSI adapter, cable, & terminators). if you're going for the big or expandable stuff, try Sony's Petasite which ranges from 60 to 2988 tape slots.
I have had no exp. with AIT
plasmon usually used for corporate archival purposes
HP DAT160 160GB (compressed) External USB2.0 Tape Drive, available at HP $999
data cartridge $36/10, cleaning cartridge $30/1
HP DAT72 72GB (compressed) External USB2.0 Tape Drive, available from HP $739
data cartridge $15/1, cleaning cartridge $30/1
HP DAT40 40GB (compressed) External USB2.0 Tape Drive, available from HP $649
data cartridge $7/1, cleaning cartridge $30/1
Exabyte VXA-320 320GB (compressed), available from Exabyte $1585
drive eliminates back-hitch (rewinding), has variable speeds. tapes $80
Exabyte VXA-2 160GB (compressed), available from Exabyte $1349
drive eliminates back-hitch (rewinding), has variable speeds. tapes $32
Exabyte VXA-1 66GB (compressed), available from Exabyte $899
drive eliminates back-hitch (rewinding), has variable speeds. tapes $16
LTO-4 1.6TB (compressed), available from Exabyte w/16M buffer,FH, Symantec Backup, data cart. cleaning cart, HD cable & terminator. $4943, HP w/64Mbuffer,5 data cart's,HH $2899
drive eliminates back-hitch (rewinding), has variable speeds. LVD SCSI. Exabyte tapes $70, HP tapes $150 HP cleaning cartridge $80
LTO-3FH 800GB (compressed), available from Exabyte, w/ 16M buffer, data cart., cleaning cart., Symantec Backup. HD cable & terminator. $4850, HP w/64MB cache, HH, 4 data tapes $1349
drive eliminates back-hitch (rewinding), has variable speeds. LVD SCSI. tapes $160
LTO-3HH 800GB (compressed), available from Exabyte, w/ 16M buffer, data cart., cleaning cart., Symantec Backup. VHDCI/HD cable & terminator. $2991
drive eliminates back-hitch (rewinding), has variable speeds. LVD SCSI, but available in IDE. tapes $160. smaller capacity drives are available, such as LTO-2 and LTO-1, some fit into IDE.
USB 2.0/ext. SATA/firewire 5-disk SATA RAID, available at tigerdirect $1300.
USB 2.0. don't expect USB 2.0/firewire to break any speed records. good for backup maybe. ATA drives being phased out by seagate.
Dell PowerVault RD1000 removeable disk cartridge drives $449, available from Dell.
catridges are $149. rugged. inexpensive except for the cartridges. SATA II internal or external USB 2.0 interface HH drives.