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

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. :-(