From: samiam@netcom.com (Scott Moore)
Subject: TAPE drives for OS/2 2.x
Summary: An overview of tape solutions for os/2
Keywords: TAPE OS/2
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1993 01:17:23 GMT

I get a lot of questions on tape drives for os/2 2.0. I thought I would
put some of this in a general letter.

FIRST, I am not impartial by any means. My company is ExaByte !

The tape solutions seem to divide into <$500, > $500 and > $1000 units.
The < $500 solution by CMS (just out) seems to be the only os/2 2.0 specific
unit in that catagory, but remember that just because it will not work under
os/2 2.0 software does not eliminate it as a backup solution ! If you are
an all FAT system, the attraction of the DOS based solution as that since
os/2 is not running at the time, there is no problem with os/2 having 
"locked" files (like the EA files). If you create a dos boot disk with your
tape software on it, you can think of this as a standalone tape operator
disk, then just stop os/2, boot the disk, run the backup, and go back to os/2.
This is how I am presently working, even though I do have os/2 2.x based
software.

As I have written here before, I am somewhat skeptical of the floppy controller
based solutions, even though they are cheap. Here are the reasons:

   1. Although they are driven by a floppy port, they are still
   incompatible with each other ! You must get software specifically
   for that drive, which is not transferable to other drives.

   2. They are notoriously slow. Since they are driven just as a
   floppy, they are limited to the same data rate. Hours of time
   is not unusual for such drives.

   3. In order to create a faster drive, you need a special driver
   card, again specific to that tape unit, typically $100.

   4. Verifying that you actually wrote correctly requires a full
   reread, typically doulbling the time it takes to perform a
   backup.

Taking the recent CMS introduction, the drive itself costs $250, the software
needed to drive it under os/2 is $99, and the special controller card 
another $100. The resulting price, $449, is enough to buy a SCSI based 
solution provided that you allready own a SCSI controller card. Here are
a few quoted from the Micro times here in Santa Clara:

Archive Viper SCSI 250 meg 6mb/sec $469
WangDAT 5150 250 meg $469

These prices make more sense if you allready own the SCSI card. Also, a 
compliant SCSI drive will take standard SCSI based software, like the PD
GTAR available on Hobbes. I have also used Novastor and Sytos. Also
the fact that it is SCSI means that it has the kind of speed you need
automatically.
Finally, the format of these tapes is stable. While the QIC-80 tapes
many or may not interchange with each other, a DC6250 cartridge using TAR
format is virtually standard.
The biggest disadvange to the drives is the 1/4 tape cartridges are rather
large (this size of a small paperback book).

The tape units we make (DAT's) are virtually unknown under $1000. The 
advantages of a DAT are the small size of the cartridge (smaller than an
audio cassette), the large capacity (2 gigabytes) and the speed (search 
to any spot on the tape in 20 seconds, typical 250 meg backup in 15 minutes).

As a said, not an unbiased viewpoint, but perhaps that should help you all
who are shopping for tapes.

                                            [sam]

-- 
Scott A. Moore [SAM]  | "Cash is more 
samiam@netcom.com     | important than your 
Santa Cruz, CA USA    | mother"
408-423-1624          | Allan Shugart - CEO Segate Corp.
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