A DDS-3 is a DDS-3?

[Robert A. Webb]

Would the A3542 be equivalent to the C6365A in terms of storing compressed data to approx. 24 GB? Both are DDS-3 tape drives. I need some definitive answer for a "curious" customer.

and on the Supplies and Accessories page it shows a DDS-3 data cartridge (24 GB)* C5708A, but there is nothing below that to explain the asterix. I assume it refers to compressed mode capacity?

[A. Clay Stephenson]

Yes, the drives are equivalent in that respost; both use DDS-3 format and compression. This does assume that compression is enabled on both drives.

The '*' indicates that a 2:1 compression ratio is assumed. My rule is to never assume any compression when sizing media requirements and use the native capacity (12GB in this case). Data varies widely in compressibility and the only absolutely safe assumption is that no compression takes place.

[Vincent Farrugia]

Hello,

Both of them are DDS3 tape drives, actually both of them are of the same family.

The asterix refers to "assuming 2:1 compression". DDS3 can ONLY hold 12Gb of data. 24Gb comes with compression. You can either compress more than that or less than that. It much depends on the compressibility of your data.

HTH,
Vince