DAT and 8mm: practical experiences

[Robert den Hartog]

In article <1991Jun17.024733.3999 at cs.cmu.edu> cbs at cs.cmu.edu (Clauss Strauch) writes:
>
>	I've seen the hype and some of the technical data comparing 8mm to 
>4mm tape drives, but would like to hear people's practical experiences with 
>the two media.  Specifically:  
>		-- Experiences with reliablity, both for the drives and
>	           the media (how well do the tapes hold up to repeated
>                   use/abuse?).
 [...]
>               -- Anything else that gets left out of the advertising
>		   blurbs and technical specifications, but might cause a 
>		   sysadmin to prefer one technology over the other.
>

We have 1 exabyte unit away for head replacement after just under 2 years
service.  Usage is about 3 hours/day for 5 days/week.  (1 daily backup
with verify.)

We asked our supplier if 2 years was reasonable, apparently they got the
word back from Exabyte that 2-3 years is all that's expected from the heads.
(I can't fully guarantee the authenticity of that quote.)  Apprently longer
life heads are being investigated.

But new heads every 2 1/2 years is not cheap, nor very settling.  (Apparently
when the unit comes back it may have trouble reading/writing tapes recently
created before the unit went away.)  If you're unit needs cleaning often,
start saving (or check your maintenance agreement.)

The repair is a 1 month, 1 week or 2 day turnaround depending on how much
you eant to pay.

Any info on DAT head life?

As to tapes, the usual: avoid sunlight and heat.  One supplier even told us
to only buy tapes in winter (in case they sit in the delivery truck for too
long on a hot summer day.)
-- 
The spelling mistakes aren't mine, they're the computers.
Hey, have a nice one.
		      Robert den Hartog. {rden|robert}@{rden|mercury}.gen.nz

Sorry, just me again, I seem to have lost my EOF somewhere.  Aha, there it is