Upgrade DLT 4/40 with Ultrium drives

[dave daniels_2]

Hello,

Can anyone tell me if is possible to update my Dlt8000 library(A5585A) with Ultrium drives, if so can you recommend a product #

Thanks,
Dave

[Vincent Farrugia]

Hello,

Yes of course you can.

Make sure you have firmware 1.20 or better in your 4/40 library. Otherwise it won't work.

Just buy 4 Ultrium drives for 4/40 library, switch off your library, replace your drive, reconnect and that's it.

Make sure all Ultrium drives have one SCSI bus dedicated to it. No daisy-chaining allowed.

HTH,
Vince

[Ian Hillier]

I'm in the same situation and inquired about this. This is what I got from a CE - If you want to use Ultrium tapes (to get extra capacity), you need to buy all new tape caddies because the tapes are not the same size. If your library is full, this can be pretty expensive - 40 tapes * $100 + 4 caddies * 100(?) = ~$4500!

Regards,

John

[Vincent Farrugia]

Hello,

What he meant are the tape magazines...

I forgot that one, he's right. Since the Ultrium media tapes are slightly smaller than DLT8000 media tapes, you need to buy their magazines as well.

But there are only 8 magazines, not 400! 2 per door.

HTH,
Vince

[Vincent Farrugia]

Hello,

You can also have a mix of drives, i.e. both DLT8000 and Ultrium drives on the same library.

To do this, you have to have common drives in floors, i.e., for example, 2 DLT8000 on the lower floor, 2 Ultrium drives on the upper floor. On each floor, either Ultrium or DLT8000, no mix.

Also, if you have mixed drives, you must have mixed magazines for both types of drives. The magazines are recognizible by watching the triangle on the magazine. DLT8000 magazines should have a triangle facing right, Ultrium magazines should have a triangle facing left.

HTH,
Vince