Date: Tue, 21 Jan 1997 15:05:50 +0200 From: Nadav Eiron <nadav@barcode.co.il> To: Don Yuniskis <dgy@rtd.com> Cc: hal@vailsys.com, FreeBSD questions <freebsd-questions@freefall.freebsd.org> Subject: Re: amanda+FreeBSD+DLT, anyone? Message-ID: <32E4BF2E.4A73@barcode.co.il> References: <199701210305.UAA27642@seagull.rtd.com>
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Don Yuniskis wrote: > > > Our Wangtek DAT drive finally quit, needs replacement. > > > > Is anyone using amanda with FreeBSD to run a DLT drive? If so, is it > > working well? > > Yes. Yes. Only used it on OpenVMS machines, and it's the best tape I've ever used. > > > 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). > > >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 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 in a truck in the middle of the desert without a glitch. When I came back I've found *piles* of sand inside the drive, but it worked. It is a 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. Nadav
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