Ultrium 460 External Tape Drive

[Laique]

I have an "HP Storage Work Ultrium 460 External Tape Drive (Carbon)" with SCSI interface. I want to use this through USB port with my desktop PC. Is there any SCSI to USB converter available for it or any other solution?

[Vincent Fleming]

Nothing supported by HP.

However, if you google for it, you'll see products from several reputable manufacturers (including adaptec) for under $100.

Good luck,

Vince

[David Ruska]

There are some on the market, but make sure the supplier guarantees it will work with the device AND your backup software. We had a lot of compatability issues when we evaluated these a few years back (for the field to use to update firmware tape drive from a laptop).

Performance may not be a good match either - check the specs.

The best solution is a SCSI card for this drive.

HP also makes USB DAT drives, if you need a USB tape backup solution.

[David Ruska]

One other point to consider is that the USB-> SCSI converters may only be available with a 50 Pin (narrow) SCSI connection. If so, you would also need to have a 50 to 68 pin cable converter (hopefully with high-byte termination to prevent cable noise problems). This cut the transfer rate in 1/2 (running in 8-bit mode instead of 16-bit).