Archive media choice DAT or MO?

[David Baldwin]

I am looking at evaluating DAT and Magneto-Optical disks for archival purposes,
mainly due to their
good access times. Target environments are VAX/VMS and Ultrix, on SCSI based
systems (3100s).
At present we use 8mm, but its very slow to get a file off the end of a tape.

DATs can access any point in the tape within 20 secs, and the media is cheap -
has anyone heard of 
archival software that can take advantage of the quick search these devices
offer?

MO disk is a bit more expensive, but can be mounted into the filesystem, etc. It
will need special
drivers for Ultrix or VMS, or else some kind of adapter to make it look like a
hard disk - this
is necessary since ordinary hard disk drivers can't cope with removeable media.
Does anyone
have any experiences with these devices on VAX/DECStation 3100s?

Thanks in advance,
David.
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David Baldwin				Internet: david at phys.anu.edu.au
Head, School Computer Unit,		Phone: (intl) +61+6+2490104
Research School of Physical Sciences,	  (Australia) (06) 249 0104
Australian National University		FAX:   (intl) +61+6+2491884
Canberra, ACT, Australia		  (Australia) (06) 249 1884
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