Not sure why you want to support LTO-6 tapes. Maybe you want to be able to read old backups using the new system?
As others have said, definitely recommend using LTO-8 or LTO-9. If you need the ability to read older backups on LTO-6 media, maybe you could install a single LTO-6 drive into a modern tape changer. As far as sourcing an LTO-6 drive, used or refurbished is probably your only option here unless you already have a suitable LTO-6 drive. LTO-7 drives should be able to read LTO-6 media, if you can't find an LTO-6 drive. I bought our organization's hardware from backupworks.com in the USA. They were really helpful when it came to selecting hardware. I don't have an affiliation or any profit motive here, just that's who we went through and I've found them to be very helpful. We went with a Qualstar q24 library and a single LTO-8 SAS drive. You may be interested in the Qualstar Q40, which expandable up to 280 slots or so. The other Qualstar libraries are not expandable. The Q40 base unit contains the robot, and the expansion modules just have slots for drives. They save money by using only one robot to service all the drives, so expansion modules aren't terribly expensive. Most of the cost of a library will be the drives, not the library itself. https://www.backupworks.com/Qualstar-Q40-LTO-8-Tape-Library.aspx AFAIK most libraries are built by the same company these days, some outfit in germany. Most drives are built by IBM or HP, with only IBM developing new tape mechanisms at this point in time. When considering different library manufacturers, knowing that the libraries were just rebadged offerings from the same company made it a lot easier to select a product. I can say that I saw some offerings from HP that locked away some of the library slots behind a license, which I didn't care for at all. Sell me my hardware and let me use it all, you *$%#^&s. FYI if you want to be able to read old backups on LTO-6 media, you'll need to get software set up to read those backups. Bacula uses its own format. If you're considering sticking with LTO-6 media because you already have a bunch of LTO-6 tapes, I advise you to strongly consider upgrading to newer media standards like LTO 8 or LTO 9. Your cost per TB will be MUCH lower for the newer formats. Regardless of whether you buy new media or try to use existing LTO-6 media, you'll need unique barcode labels for each tape. It's imperative that you apply the labels carefully and that they're within the indented area designated for the barcodes. Many tape robot jam issues are related to improper labeling, from what I read. Regards, Robert Gerber 402-237-8692 r...@craeon.net On Tue, Jun 27, 2023 at 1:33 AM Dr. Thorsten Brandau < thorsten.bran...@brace.de> wrote: > > IT Manager via Bacula-users schrieb am 26.06.23 um 12:32: > > I’m looking at replacing 4 different backup systems with a single solution > that can backup Windows (server and desktop), Linux and Unix. Bacula is > currently very high up the list but there’s one make or break requirement, > which is tape backups. > > Due to the number of systems we need to backup, we need a decent sized > tape library (40+ tapes) that can handle 3 or 4 tape drives and LTO 6 tapes. > > > > Can anyone recommend suitable hardware that will work with Bacula without > too much swearing and cursing being required? > > > > We are running a Quantum Neolib 24s with one LTO-9 drive. > > You can use this lib and install up to 2 drives (LTO what you like). I > would definetly recommend to use LTO-9 drives, as the money you spend is > easily and fast recovered by the number of tapes you need, and you will > probably use it for a long time. Going with an old tape just does not make > sense. However, the Neolib can use different tapes so you can also start > with an "older" internal drive and upgrade later. > > As the Neolib has two cardridges, you can install different tapes, too. > > Bacula works fine with it, if you hack the changer script. There will be a > new one probably from Bill in the near future that has more options and > works out of the box, but for now you just have to comment out a time out > with the Neolib. > > The Neo is availabel with up to 80 drives, so plenty of space here. > > Cheers > > T > > > _______________________________________________ > Bacula-users mailing list > Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users >
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