When it comes to tape drives this story sums it up:

System Manager: What is a good tape system and what will it cost?
Vendor: How much you got?

Same story different punch line:
System Manager: What is a good tape system and what will it cost?
HP3000-L: It Depends.

DDS tapes and DAT drives are cheaper on the front end in that they cost less
than DLT tapes and drives to purchase. You must examine what the long term
cost is for your facility. Here are some things to think about:
1. DAT tapes need to be replaced more often than DLT tapes. I personally
never felt safe using DATs for more than ten backups. DLTs can be used
almost forever.
2. DDS drives can lose calibration and make tapes unreadable. There were
many horror story threads on this list. DDS technology maybe more stable
today but DLT technology was never a problem.
3. How often do you save a backup offsite, i.e. remove it from circulation?
Depending on how often you do the costs can run up.
4. You will always need a DDS drive since DLT is not a boot media.
5. How many SE SCSI do you have available for DDS or DLT devices?
6. Can a "backup" package such as Orbit, RoadRunner or HiComp make your
backups faster and more efficient?

Go to www.hp.com and look up the specs and costs for different
configurations. Look at the various packages. I hope this helps.

Work for Peace

The opinions expressed herein are my own and not necessarily those of my
employer.
Yosef Rosenblatt

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