My original LTO-1 library went back to the leasing company after three years of use, averaging about 2 TB of data per DAY across 10 drives. In that time period, we clocked 11 uses of one cleaning tape. All eleven were manually triggered from the operator panel (move tape from slot to drive) to check out tape drives after repair/replace in the first two months (before we got the proper microcode installed on the drives).
In other words -- 3 years, 2 TB/day * 365 days *3 -- and the drives never indicated they needed to be cleaned. And no I/O errors relating to cleaning being required. Tom Kauffman NIBCO, Inc -----Original Message----- From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Prather, Wanda Sent: Monday, November 29, 2004 3:42 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: LTO Media Same here. LTO1 just never seems to need cleaning (these drives aren't under a very heavy load, though). -----Original Message----- From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of David E Ehresman Sent: Monday, November 29, 2004 3:37 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: LTO Media >> Using other than IBM tapes (and possibly with them), it seems that cleaning each drive AT LEAST once per week is imperative, rather than waiting till the drive says it needs cleaning. The IBMs do seem to leave lest 'dust' or residue on the heads.<< You're cleaning LTO drives once a week? What kind of environement are the drives located in? We clean our LTO drives less than once a YEAR! David Ehresman
