Kudos for BackupTapes.net

[unixronin]

I have an LTO-1 tape drive that I use for all my full backups, which I run in rotating sets every couple of months (with weekly differentials and nightly incrementals to a separate device).  It's big, fast and nasty — fast enough that I have to back up four machines at the same time to keep it streaming optimally.  But tapes don't last forever, so a few weeks ago I ordered four new Verbatim 100GB (uncompressed) LTO-1 tapes from BackupTapes.

Two weeks later, the Verbatim tapes are still on back-order.  So they contacted me today.  Actually, it turns out that the price on the Verbatim tapes was what it was because they are reconditioned tapes, a detail which had escaped me.  But the main problem was they were still on back-order.

"So," they told me, "since they're still back-ordered, what we'd like to do is fill your order with new Maxell tapes instead, at the same price.  If that's OK."

Sure, I said.  (Oddly, I have no problem with getting four brand-new 100GB tapes for the price of reconditioned ones.)

"OK then," they said.  "We'll get those out to you today.  You should have them tomorrow."

Nice work, guys.

Comments

[robbat2.livejournal.com]

your link is to .com

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Oops. I feex dat, ya.

[bratling.livejournal.com]

i keep meaning to put my VXA drive back into duty. but that requires finding and buying an LVD-SCSI card that works with Mac OS X and older Power Mac G4 hardware...

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I have several spare PCI LVD-SCSI cards of different flavors (Adaptec, Symbios, and I think LSI Logic). Whether any of them will work on a G4 Mac without new firmware, I don't know. To your knowledge, are there/should there be any special firmware requirements?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Oh, forgot to ask -- internal or external? I assume it's a 68-pin drive ... VXA1 or VXA2? Will it operate in single-ended SCSI mode?

[mrmeval.livejournal.com]

I was considering this if I really need the storage but I have a PC. Damned pricey though.

http://www.pricewatch.com/tape_drives/sata.htm

Shouldn't these work in a MAC G4 with a PCI sata card? Or are there similar issues with drivers and such?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I'd believe the situation would be the same as for the SCSI drive: As long as you can find a PCI SATA controller for which you can get an OSX (I assume you're using OSX?) device driver, it shouldn't be a problem.

[mrmeval.livejournal.com]

Nah, just a Linux PC running FC 6 now. Based on the prices I'm seeing I may just get a couple of NAS boxes or externals and run them as backup storage.

A terabyte box is now within my budget.... That's a lot of tape.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I guess the problem I have with backing up to disk is, in the event of something electrically catastrophic like a lightning strike, I want my backups to be OFFLINE, so that they don't get fried along with everything else.

[bratling.livejournal.com]

68-pin, external drive, and i believe i have an appropriate terminator hanging around here somewhere.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I have spare 68-pin LVD active terminators of you need one.

Thus saith the Geeks List:

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

If it's not gonna be used for booting, no issues.

IMO your friend's best bet is an LSI Logic-based card. You can get drivers for them from Atto. IIRC Adaptec SCSI drivers aren't available for any PPC OS X newer than 10.2; no idea if they'll work with anything newer.

A SCSI VXA-2 will be LVD, and will thus work fine with an SE SCSI HBA

So, yeah, as I thought, no special firmware should be required, and any SE or LVD controller that you can obtain a device driver for should work fine.

I can look in my Big Box O'Parts if you'd like and see if I have a single-channel LSI Logic SCSI HBA. (I already know I have a big, nasty PCI64 dual-channel LSI Logic card, but I sort of have plans for it at some point.)

Re: Thus saith the Geeks List:

[bratling.livejournal.com]

if you have a compatible card, i would love to take it off your hands.

my drive is actually a VXA-1, but it's still an LVD device. i missed my chance to trade it in on a firewire version cheap (dammit); i found out about the trade-up program about six months after it ended.

Re: Thus saith the Geeks List:

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Huh. I never knew the program existed at all.

Let me look and see what I have.

Re: Thus saith the Geeks List:

[bratling.livejournal.com]

they weren't exactly proactive about contacting registered owners. you just had to notice it on the web site. :-(