An Ecrix rep told me that they are coming out with VXA-2 later this
year, which should up capacity and make VXA even better. I just can't
decide if I should go with VXA now, or if I should wait for VXA-2.
Jim
At 12:56 PM -0500 on 1/24/01, you wrote:
>I can't speak for everyone but I hope you keep this discussion on the list. If
>it does happen to go off-line, I would greatly appreciate a copy of the final
>thoughts.
>There was a thread that went around a couple of months ago with price
>comparisons for all of these different media types (including hardware and
>media) but I'm sure it's already outdated. The VXA drive from Ecrix looked
>like it had potential for a smaller setup due to it's price of drives and
>media. The media also looks very reliable according to the material on their
>web site. I am currently using DLT and it gets a little expensive to stay as
>redundant as I would like to be. I've noticed that Ecrix is coming out with
>larger tape libraries, Does anyone think that will make it a more viable
>solution or is AIT still the way to go?
>thanks,
>Tim
>
>
>Stephen Jones wrote:
>
>> I would have to say AIT. Sony pulled the plug on the proposed DDS-5 so I
>> wouldn't suggest that line at all (end of product life). Also, DAT drives
>> have 1/5th the head life expectancy (10,000 hours instead of AIT's 50,000
>> hours).
>>
>> DLT would definitely be better than DAT but is faced with the same situation
>> as 4mm. The current best DLT is the 8000 series. It's 40GB uncompressed by
>> 6MB/second. The Gen I version of the upcoming SuperDLT will *NOT* be
>> backward compatible. Are you prepared to purchase something that will not
>> work with the very next version of the hardware?
>>
>> AIT, also made by Sony, gives you two choices (AIT-1 and AIT-2). AIT-1
>> (35GB/3MB/second uncompressed) inside a library costs less than $4500 and
>> holds 525GB uncompressed. AIT-2 is 50GB by 6MB/second (and is considerably
>> less than a DLT library - it's also self-cleaning, DLT is not).
>>
>> AIT-2 is backward compatible (read and write) with AIT-1. You could start
>> with AIT-1 and upgrade to AIT-2 in the future should you need more capacity
>> and speed -- and use the very same library chassis.
>>
>> AIT-3 (100GB by 12MB/second) is due out later this year and is backward
>> compatible with AIT-1 and 2. When AIT-4 hits the street two years form now
>> (a proposed 200GB by 24MB/second), it too will be backward compatible with
>> all previous AIT generations.
>>
>> DLT, up to a couple years ago, was definitely king of the hill. But in the
>> game of technology, no one stands paramount indefinitely. AIT has
>> definitely become more popular -- with a roadmap to larger/faster drives
>> while remaining backward compatible. I was surprised to hear the news that
>> DLT could not offer backward compatibility with their upcoming SuperDLT
> > drive. We have many DLT customers who will not be able to upgrade. In
> > fact, because of that, a lot of our DLT customers have moved to AIT.
> >
> > Please feel free to contact me with any tech questions, I have been a
>> storage engineer for ten years and work with all formats daily.
>>
>> All the best!
>>
> > Steve
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--
Jim Grisham, IT Director
Illini Media Company
Student Media @ The University of Illinois
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(217) O.244.6964 H.344.6177 F.244.6616
PGP Public key at: http://jimgrisham.com/pgp.txt
--
----------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archives: <http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/>
Search: <http://www.mail-archive.com/retro-talk%40latchkey.com/>
For urgent issues, please contact Dantz technical support directly at
[EMAIL PROTECTED] or 925.253.3050.
