NetServer LH 5/100 with SureStore 6000 tape drive

[Victor Corral]

My internal tape backup, (SureStore Tape 6000 Model C1528f, Serial# GB00386921), on my Netserver LH 5/100 has died. I need to replace it with a new (SureStore Tape 6000 Model C1528f) or have the old one rebulit.
An opinon on what I should do is needed, as well as the person who can help me complete this repair. My experience is limited in this area. Any advice in resolving this problem as quickly as possiable is appreciated very much.

[Terri Harris]

I would advise replacing the tape drive, the tape drive engine is probably worn out and it would cost more to replace parts (if you could find them) then to buy new. The SureStore 6000 has been discontinued by HP since 1997 so you might want to consider a newer tape drive model - I would suggest the DAT24i.
Let me know if you have any further questions...HP itself does not offer any repair options on tape drives.

[Victor Corral]

The Dat24i suggestion is great Thank You Terri. I do have one other question. I removed the Sursave 6000 and replaced it with a SurSave 5000 but the Sursave 5000 would not recognize the DDS tapes being used by the Sursave 6000. Something about a density difference, can you tell me more about that and maybe who I could contact about the Dat24i. Contact me at larroc47@msn.com if you like.

[Terri Harris]

The SureStore 6000 uses DDS-2 native media which is not compatible in the 5000...the 5000 uses DDS-1 and cannot read or write to DDS-2. As a comparision, the DAT24 uses DDS-3.

If you want to try and use the existing DDS-2 tapes created by the 6000 tape drive then I would say try and buy another 6000 tape drive (but only if it is CHEAP!). This drive is no longer sold by HP, easiest thing to do is search the Internet by product name, number, or both.

For more information on the DAT24, start with this web page:

http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storageworks/dat24/index.html

There is a link to buy online - this can also be used to check pricing.

Let me know if you do have any further questions. Good luck!