From: mcbryde@navier.math.uh.edu (Jack Mcbryde)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.aix
Subject: Re: Looking for suggestions for Tape Backup?
Date: 31 Dec 1992 14:36:14 GMT
Organization: UH Dept of Math
NNTP-Posting-Host: navier.math.uh.edu

In article <C04KHx.9A6@ucunix.san.uc.edu> ewilson@ucunix.san.uc.edu (Eliot Wilson) writes:
>In article <1254@alsys1.aecom.yu.edu> ed@balrog.aecom.yu.edu (Ed Geraghty) writes:
>>
>>Happy New Year!!!!! (almost :) ) 
>>                   By the time this gets to some it will be a new year
>>
>>Greetings All,
>>
>>     We are currently looking to purchase a 8mm backup tape drive for our site.
>>I was perusing  through the AIX FAQ for possible suggestions and saw that 
>>only IBM's tape drive will work. We are looking to backup about 1.5 Gig on
>>Suns and Rs6k. I have to check but I could have sworn that I saw a 8mm 
>>advertised for IBM and SUNs is the FAQ correct? Anybody have any suggestions
>>or warnings i should know being in the market for 8mm drives. 
>>
>>                                  Thanx in advance,
>>
>If your not set on getting an 8mm, IBM sells a 1/4" tape drive which
>uses QIC-1000 tapes, and can store upto 1.2MB per cartridge. It has a
>300KB/sec data transfer rate, which is 50% faster than the previous 1/4"
>tape drive. When it was announced 9/22/92, it's list was about $2800.
>Here is some info I found:

If you do much in the way of backups and storage I think you will be better
off with the 8mm. You'll be able to backup your entire system (even if you
make it noticibly larger) without having to change the tape, the media cost
is significantly less (3rd party anyway), and you don't have to deal with
waiting for the tape to retension each time (a problem with the 525Mb version
which probably hasn't been remedied for this one, although it might have been).
I'll try augmenting the table from memory. (This means the numbers might be 
off.)

>                            7207-012	525Mb	8mm
>                            --------
>Announced                   9/22/92
>Capacity (MB)                  1.2	525Mb	2.3Gb
>Transfer rate (KB/sec)         300	240	240
>ECC (Error Correction Code)    Yes	yes	yes
>Downward compatibility         Yes	yes	n/a
>US Price                     $2800	?	5600
>Price/MB                     $2.33	?	about the same
>Media (tape cartridge)     IBM 1.2		Sony data grade (or other)
>Media price (US)            $67.95	$35?	$16
>Media price/MB               $0.06		$0.0067

There is also a higher capacity 8mm available and a 4mm DAT. If you consider
the savings in time (not having to wait for retensioning and not having to
wait to stick in the second tape) and the media costs ($50 per tape although
I suspect that you can get it to be less by finding third party tapes) I think
you would be happier with the 8mm. I'd borrow one from IBM for a day to make
absolutely sure that it didn't give me any problems on the Suns. (I don't see
why it would, but it never hurts to make sure.)

jack
--
jack      mcbryde@karazm.math.uh.edu    * All I ask of Thee, Lord
* Christ died for our sins.  Dare we    * Is to be a drinker and fornicator
* make his martyrdom meaningless by     * An unbeliever and a sodomite
* not committing them? - Jules Feiffer  * And then to die. - Claude de Chauvigny
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