getting ready to purchase a robot - suggestions 1

[joenok]

I am getting ready to buy either an Overland, HP, Quantum robot for my Windows 2000, Netbackup DataCenter 4.5 backup system. I am getting tired of trying to figure out how to utilize a stand alone drive with this system. Any praises or horror stories with either of these robots? the Overland is the PowerLoader, the Quantum is the Superloader and the Hp is the Storageworks ssl1016.

thanks for any tips!

 

[comtec17]

I would suggest using a StorageTek L20 or L40.

 

[joenok]

The PC magazine review

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,889746,00.asp

rates this lower than the 3 I stated that's why I didn't consider. what is your experience, why do you prefer it over the others?

thanks - I'm open to suggestions, just letting you know why I didn't put it in the 3 I gave

 

[comtec17]

I prefer it since I have installed 32 of these with only one being bad. All the major backup software venders support it and it is scalable. You can start with DLT drives and upgrade later to LTO or SDLT.

 

[MickeyB]

I have seen problems with DLT drives for years and many fewer problems with LTO and AIT tapes. DLT is near the end of technology life with SDLT (will there be an SDLT2?) and LTO is mid-life with an LTO3 in the works.

AIT is very dense with inexpensive media!

The key to robot longevity is maintenance. Get one that you can get a good deal on a long term maintenance contract - price is a one time thing, maintenance costs will go on forever. If you total up the 3 or 5 year maintenance costs, the growth you anticipate and the backup/restore windows that you're going to have to hit, you'll make a better decision. If choices were clear for everyone, there'd only be one vendor in this marketplace!

Good luck,

Mickey

 

[stresco]

I have worked with many different types of robot technologies, and IMHO for the Small to Med size org. i would have to say that the ADIC Scallar 100 with SDLT drives is a great machine. The standard support that it comes with is acceptable with overnight parts and 24/7 telephone tech. support (which can be upgraded). The only thing that i have a problem with is the Web Management Interface that it comes with. Totally not worth the bother.

 

[pieheto]

I have 2 Superloaders with Quantum SDLT220 and one M1800 (2 1500 units with the stacklink) with SDLT320 and have used all of them flawlessly for six months so far. I back up 4 -5 TB per week on the 1800 and 1 - 2 TB per week on the Superloaders. I use HP / Compaq DL320 servers with Windows 2000 and NetBackup DC 4.5.

I'm not saying my setup is the best, but I have had good luck with it.

 

[bignate]

We are using an overland neo series with LTO-1. i have had zero problems with the unit. and an added plus is that when you start to outgrow the unit you can add another unit to it or you can replace the drives with lto-2 or 3 in the same library without and modifications

 

[wrlsgui]

I'm using a SpectraLogic TreeFrog (aka "2k&quot with NBU 4.5 and have been impressed with the expandability, speed, and capacity. It falls well within your price range (based on the Powerloader and Superloader comparisons). Buy it used, but with a warranty, for about $3500-5000. It holds up to 30 self-cleaning AIT-3 200GB+ tapes, although you can always use fewer in the beginning. It will take 2 drives, but one is probably more than adequate for most environments. It was a no-brainer to setup and has been extremely easy to manage and flawlessly reliable over the last 9 months. It's completely compatible with NBU 4.5.

 

[PGPhantom]

Personally, If you can, create your robot to be on a Unix box and the master W2K. Reason - You can get way, way better throughput on UNIX due to the ability to expand the receive buffers beyond the capabilities of W2K.

We use HP 4/40 and Dell PowerVault 120, 122, 130 and 136's - All work great usig LTO.

 

[vm146971]

Get at least 2 drives so yhat you can take advantage of Netbackup's tape duplication feature. I have had very good experience with StorageTek, thier support is great.

 

[hpuxrules]

I have experience with StorageTek 9310 Nearline silos (with ACSLS), L700 and L180, all configured with 9840 and 9940 drives. All are exceptional, but VERY expensive.

More recently, I have worked with a Spectralogic 10k (bullfrog) with 4 AIT-3 drives, and have been VERY pleased with it's capabilities, reliability and performance.

My ONLY complaint(s) with the Spectralogic 10k are;

1). It does not have enough slots for my backup and duplication requirements. I am constantly swapping tapes out to free up slots.

2). The single slot access door is basically useless if you have to swap out several tapes daily. It's just to labor intensive.

I am in the process of writing up a business case to upgrade to the Spectralogic 20k library with 8 AIT-4 drives. It's features, capabilities and reviews appear impressive.

I believe that the Spectralogic 20k would be the perfect candidate to fit into our existing SAN and future NAS environments...

My 2 cents worth.

 

[johnny99]

I also know the L180 and L700 and we use 9940B. Great library and great drive, but the $$$

Any StorageTek library from the L180 and up are great. L80 and down are good.

What I would try to look into it to buy a used L180 (but remember maintenance)

/johnny

 

[goace]

For pieheto, I have a stacklink M1500/2500 config. Is yours configured in a SAN config? I think I maybe reaching its limit. Thanks.

 

[joenok]

Thanks for all the replys, we were going to go with StorageTek but they couldn't give us a ship date. So we ended up buying a Overland Powerloader with dual LTO2 drives, so far so good. thanks for all the Posts!

joenok

 

[rynardo]

Go with Storagetek. We have a L700E with SDLT quantum drives. They offer phenominal support on their hardware.