Re: Backup tape reliability solution?

[Wendy Moore <wemoore@xxxxxxxxxx>]

We got our new Seagate tape drive in April 2002.  We had this exact
problem start up last summer.  We had a call open for over 2 months,
which ended with the "clean your deck and get new tapes" suggestion,
even though we NEVER had the problem until we got that new tape drive,
nor did the tapes EVER FAIL to run a manual backup, only an UNATTENDED
backup.  We had HP tapes.

I got 20 all new Fuji tapes & cleaning tapes in November.  I have been
running those now on a 4 week rotation for almost 6 months with a deck
cleaning once a week (every 5 backups).  Guess what - in the last 3-4
weeks we have been having more and more failures, more and more
frequently.  I keep a log of the failures.

I have been dreading reopening the call again, because I think if I
heard the phrase "clean the tape drive" again, I might cry.  However,
now I'm very intrigued by the post about the "bad tape drive shipment"
and the dip switch settings (thanks Grinnell!!!).  Very interesting. 
So, now I'm just mad that even though we reported this problem, we
weren't informed of the potential dip switch solution.  

I knew it was that tape drive...anyone knows you don't have to clean a
drive every time you use it and that those DDS4 tapes should have more
than 6 uses in them!

Next Stop:  CSDirect

Thanks for the thread!
Wendy Moore

-- 
**********
Wendy Moore
Acquisitions/Serials Librarian
School of Law Library
University of Georgia
Athens GA 30602-6018
Voice: (706)542-5081
FAX: (706)542-5130
Email: wemoore@xxxxxxxxxx
**********

David Brennan wrote:
> 
> Good afternoon-
> 
> We have had a nagging problem since our system went live last September, with no real resolution, and this week
> has been a big pain in the behind, so thought I'd poll the group before trying to escalate it with III.
> We're a turnkey site (COMPAQ Alpha and the Seagate DAT drive that was spec'd with the system). In the winter, the initial
> drive failed, and was replaced (twice, since the first replacement was DOA); aside from that hardware failure,
> the problem has been the extremely limited lifespan of the tapes. [I've looked through the
> previous postings on the topic, and there has been discussion on this, but resolution seems to be replace the media
> very frequently. That won't sit well with the budget office.]
> 
> Our first batch of tapes were SONY, the second batch FUJI; both brands have been disappointing.
> I have three of the new FUJI tapes on my desk that failed. They were brought into service in late March, and based on
> our two-week rotation, have only been used 5 or 6 times, and have all failed this week.
> We had almost all of the SONY tapes fail between our September go-live and when they were replaced in March,
> for about 13-15 uses on the two-week rotation. We clean our drive every 5 days. III claimed, while we were going
> round with the dead drives, that we were not cleaning often enough.
> 
> This is really unacceptable to be replacing media this often, nor should it be necessary to
> clean a drive every day just in order to get it to work. If that is truly the case, then that technology is poorly suited
> to any kind of commercial use in comparison to something more robust, like DLT.
> 
> What I would really like to do is not back up to the DAT. We only back up 2GB of data. Heck, I could back that up to my own workstation without any problem, and really would like to back up to one of our campus servers and then to their tape.
> 
> Questions for anyone willing to comment (on list or off)
> 
> - has your experience been similar?
> - have you had any resolution to the problem, and how (other than replacing the tapes every month)
> - is it the tapes or the drive or both?
> - has anyone managed to set up a backup to another device?
> 
> Appreciate your feedback,
> 
> David
> 
> ============================
> David Brennan, MLS
> Electronic Services Librarian
> Clifford E. Barbour Library
> Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
> 616 N. Highland Ave.
> Pittsburgh, PA 15206
> 412-441-3304 x2256
> 412-362-2329 (FAX)
> dbrennan@xxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.barbourlibrary.org
> ============================
> 
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