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Re: Tape drive for 9000 D330

 
Andy Parris
Occasional Contributor

Tape drive for 9000 D330

I recently purchased a Storage Works DLT vs80e (C7503B) tape drive for a 9000 D330 server.

The cable include with the drive is a VHD to HD external LVD/SE SCSI cable. I need a controller. Would the C7474A Ultra 160 SCSI host adapter work with this server?

Thanks in advance for your help

Andy Parris
9 REPLIES 9
A. Clay Stephenson
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: Tape drive for 9000 D330

Not a prayer. The D-box has FWD/HVD (Hi-voltage differntal) SCSI or SE-SCSI. There is no support for LVD SCSI on a D-box. Moreover, LVD and HVD SCSI are absolutely incompatible -- even down to the terminators. NEVER mix these components on the same bus. The SE-SCSI port will starve your drive for data. A method that should work is an A4107A FWD/HVD controller in conjunction with an HVD/LVD SCSI Bus Convertor. One source of such a device is Black Box Corp.
If it ain't broke, I can fix that.
A. Clay Stephenson
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: Tape drive for 9000 D330

Just so that you are not tempted, let me add a further warning. The fact that the cables will fits means absolutely nothing. Do not mix HVD SCSI with anything else. Moreover, your DLT will require a dedicated bus; nothing else will feed it fast enough to stream.
If it ain't broke, I can fix that.
Jeff Schussele
Honored Contributor

Re: Tape drive for 9000 D330

Hi Andy,

One thing to consider is even if it could be made to work - would you want to?

I seriously doubt a D330 could keep that drive streaming. And if you don't keep them streaming not only will performance be very poor due to all the stopping & repositioning, you'll wear the heads out a hell of a lot faster.

That drive really needs a newer, faster system to keep it well-fed.

My 2 cents,
Jeff
PERSEVERANCE -- Remember, whatever does not kill you only makes you stronger!
Joshua Scott
Honored Contributor

Re: Tape drive for 9000 D330

The Compressed speed of the DLT vs80 is only 6MB/s, I think that the SE SCSI-2 connector on the D330 could do 10MB/s.

Josh
What are the chances...
Jeff Schussele
Honored Contributor

Re: Tape drive for 9000 D330

But don't forget the access time and bandwidth required by the device feeding the tape. You might have a fighting chance *only* if that tape is flying solo on it's bus. If it's not - game's over - for sure. But I still think that D is really gonna struggle to feed that tape considering it's CPU & bus speeds even in that scenario.

My $0.02,
Jeff
PERSEVERANCE -- Remember, whatever does not kill you only makes you stronger!
Vincent Farrugia
Honored Contributor

Re: Tape drive for 9000 D330

And... vs80 drives come only in LVD versions... no HVD versions exist.

Vince
Tape Drives RULE!!!
Andy Parris
Occasional Contributor

Re: Tape drive for 9000 D330

Thanks to everyone for the response. I guess I will have to return the drive. Is DAT my only option for this server?

Thanks again
Andy
Joshua Scott
Honored Contributor

Re: Tape drive for 9000 D330

Andy,

If I were you i would purchase a used DLT7000, which DOES come in HVD flavor. get a A4107A SCSI card, and you should be in buisiness.

Josh
What are the chances...
Bill Hassell
Honored Contributor

Re: Tape drive for 9000 D330

While the DLT7000 will work as far as the interface, the performance issues are still a problem. You'll have to use a high performance backup tool (tar, cpio, pax, dump may all cause repositioning events) such as fbackup (always use a config file to set maximum reader processes and a large blocksize). Most modern tape drives are not easy to see data starvation problems. You'll have to calculate the amount of data saved and the elapsed time to see if you're close to getting full speed. A DDS-3 drive would be OK but a DDS-4 may have the same problems as the DLT (it's pretty fast too).


Bill Hassell, sysadmin