Date: Sat, 11 Jan 1997 11:51:30 -0500 (EST) From: "Roger M. Levasseur" <rml@midnight.mv.com> To: freebsd-hardware@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Recommend 8mm exabyte drives? Message-ID: <199701111651.LAA01503@midnight.mv.com>
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> I'm considering 8mm exabyte as a (?more reliable) alternative to 4mm DAT. > > Would you recommend these drives? I've been a lurker here for a few months now, but seeing the recent discussions about tape drives makes it time that I make a few comments. Most of my thoughts are a result of having once worked at a company that did backup and migration software for workstations: tape drives were never too far away. Would I recommend these drives? Only if you're prepared for the following. 8mm drives.... * Have alot of moving parts inside of them (the rotating head setup means quite a few parts compared to non-rotating head drives) * These drives _demand_ good care - cleaning is a MUST! Failure to clean after 10 to 20 uses is inviting problems. Failure to clean over the long term results in buildups on the heads that cleaning tapes just won't get at, and errors will accumulate and be problematic * Limited lifetime of tapes for usage. DON'T EVER think of using regular 8mm tapes - these will only accelerate buildup on the heads (see previous entry about cleaning). Only use DATA grade tapes. The difference shows up in the drive over the long term. * Long term storage of data on 8mm tapes - to insure a long archival of storage on 8mm will require you to at least put the tape in the drive and retension the tape every few months. If you are prepared to use and treat the drive as mentioned, ok, otherwise stay clear. When I got a tape drive for my home pc in 1994, I had considered 8mm, 4mm, and QIC. For reasons based on cost, reliability, and the above factors, I went with a QIC-525. The density doesn't compare, but I've had zero problems in 3 years of usage. I don't have enough experience to know if 4mm is better or worse than 8mm in terms of reliability. These days, if money wasn't an issue, I would pick DLT over 8mm. -roger
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