From owner-freebsd-questions Wed Dec 23 17:40:44 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id RAA08719 for freebsd-questions-outgoing; Wed, 23 Dec 1998 17:40:44 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from allegro.lemis.com (allegro.lemis.com [192.109.197.134]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id RAA08711 for ; Wed, 23 Dec 1998 17:40:40 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from grog@freebie.lemis.com) Received: from freebie.lemis.com (freebie.lemis.com [192.109.197.137]) by allegro.lemis.com (8.9.1/8.9.0) with ESMTP id MAA10063 for ; Thu, 24 Dec 1998 12:10:23 +1030 (CST) Received: (from grog@localhost) by freebie.lemis.com (8.9.1/8.9.0) id MAA14651; Thu, 24 Dec 1998 12:10:25 +1030 (CST) Message-ID: <19981224121025.C12346@freebie.lemis.com> Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1998 12:10:25 +1030 From: Greg Lehey To: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: SCSI Tape Drive Recommendations? References: <19981219214449.A13107@drwho.xnet.com> <19981223143817.Y85005@freebie.lemis.com> <19981223010016.B4910@drwho.xnet.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 0.91.1i In-Reply-To: <19981223010016.B4910@drwho.xnet.com>; from Michael Maxwell on Wed, Dec 23, 1998 at 01:00:16AM -0600 WWW-Home-Page: http://www.lemis.com/~grog Organization: LEMIS, PO Box 460, Echunga SA 5153, Australia Phone: +61-8-8388-8286 Fax: +61-8-8388-8725 Mobile: +61-41-739-7062 Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Wednesday, 23 December 1998 at 1:00:16 -0600, Michael Maxwell wrote: > On Wed, Dec 23, 1998 at 02:38:17PM +1030, Greg Lehey wrote: >> The silence is deafening, isn't it? The question is ``reliable''. I >> find most tape units unreliable. At the moment I'm still using DDS >> drives, but I haven't had any that have survived more than two years, >> and refurbishing seems to be a waste of money. General consensus is >> that Travan drives are even worse than DDS or Exabyte, but that may be >> prejudice. > ---end quoted text--- > > Well, I"ve gotten a few responses via email, but we'll see what turns up... > > Is anyone familiar with the HP T4 internal "Surestore" drives? Maybe. I wish HP wouldn't use these silly marketing names. They have part numbers, too, but it's a pain finding them. Don't buy a DDS-1 such as the C1536. They're old technology, and even less reliable than the others. > Are they supported in BSD (no mention in the handbook, but then...)? If they're DDS drives, definitely "yes". > Chances are, I'll probably have to settle for one of those since > they are about all I can afford (the only thing better I"ve seen is > the Exabyte 8700LT 8mm external, and I don't like it precisely > *because* it's external and it looks more like a Sony Walkman than a > tape drive). What's wrong with it being external? Yes, it looks silly, but it seems to be a good drive (and, before you ask, yes, it's supported). > if nothing else, I may be able to get my hands on two internal exabyte > 8mm drives off our old AS/400 at work, but they are *quite* used, and I'd > have a hard time relying on them... especially considering they've been > serviced more times than I can count... Used Exabytes are seldom a good choice, and you may find that they store a lot less data than you think. Greg -- See complete headers for address, home page and phone numbers finger grog@lemis.com for PGP public key To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message