Tape Drives - Any opinions on these 2?

[flotsam]

I am going to be implimenting a new backup plan for my company, and I need to decide between the following 2 tape drives:

1. Certance CL400H 1U rackmount Ultrium LTO Drive 200/400

or

2. HP Ultrium 460 (Non-Rackmount) LTO 200/400 drive

I realize that one is rack mount, and the other is not (the HP rackmount drive kit makes the drive too expensive).

My question is: Is one better than the other?

I really like the pricepoint on the Certance (especially since it is a rackmount), both drives take the same exact media, and both companies are part of the consortium that developed the Ultrium standard.

Thanks for your Help,
Chad

 

[Yrrk]

Are you aware theres a newer LTO standard now? LTO-3 supports 400/800GB storage.

I think you'd be fine with either of the above provided you ensure they're supported at the OS and backup application software level. Make sure you confirm that..

Otherwise go with whatever is cheaper, has a better warrenty, or works better form-factor wise.

HP has some neat tools for keeping drivers/firmware up to date if i recall correctly.

 

[flotsam]

Yrrk,

Thanks for the input. I looked at the LTO-3 drives, but the cost is a lot more (I don't think I would get the approval to upgrade my backup strategy/infrastructure, I am still using DAT, so anything is an improvement), and I don't project needing the capacity for 5 - 7 years.

Thanks,
Chad

 

[HelpNow]

Why not just get the LTO-1, its fast as hell, especially if you are going form DAT to LTO, and media is cheap apx 23 and commpresed backup is 200 GB per tape.
However, they should be end of life in next year or two, if you could not get another upgrade in say 2 years then look into LTO-2 atleast that should be good for 4 years i suppose.

 

[flotsam]

Thanks for all of your input. I decided to go with the Certance LTO-2 drive, based on the cost, and warranty. Besides like I said earlier anything is an improvement over DAT.

Thank you,
Chad