Media life time

[Macho_2]

What is the life time or maximum usage for the DDS,DLT,SDLT and Ultrium tape.

[Peter Godron]

Hi,
there will be no absolute answer, as too many variables impact, amongst others:
1. Quality of the tape
2. Age/Condition of drive
3. Frequency of use

Generally if a tape works once it will work again. Once you get the first errors, after cleaning the drive, it is time to use another tape.
The cost of the tape compared to the loss of data is worth changing them regularily. All figures referring to Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) are statistical and should be taken cautiously.
Regards

[Pete Randall]

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=534294
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=762680
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=108191
http://www.quantum.com/AM/products/dlt/whitepapers/default.htm


Pete