We did LTO-1 for three years and are now 18 months into mixed LTO-1 and LTO-2. I've got two tapes that have been damaged by dropping - both about 4 feet. As mentioned in one of the other notes, the cases seperated slightly and the pin is out of alignment. I could probably fix them and put them in service, but I figure it's not worth the risk.
We do put the tapes back into the plastic boxes when they're out of the library, and ship the tapes vertically (mostly). Our internal tape courier is an ex-mainframe operator and not especially noted for gentleness. But we've had no other tape failures in the past 4+ years, for what it's worth. IIRC, the 3590 high-density cart was especially listed as fragile by IBM because if dropped flat, the tape puck could bottom-out in the cart with potential damage to a clock track or sync track on the edge of the tape. Tape is tape; take a little care in packing, and the gorillas won't be able to damage it without more work than they'll want to do. Tom Kauffman NIBCO, Inc -----Original Message----- From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tab Trepagnier Sent: Friday, February 10, 2006 12:51 PM To: ADSM-L@VM.MARIST.EDU Subject: Alleged LTO fragility This is a tape media question. We are considering moving from DLT8000 to LTO-1 for offsite tape storage. Our local IBM guys told us that LTO tapes should not be dropped more than 1/2 inch or they risk being damaged. If you've ever watched a vault vendor handling tapes, you know that 1/2" is pretty optimistic. So, is that true? Would our offsite data be at risk if our vault vendor dropped an LTO cartridge a whole inch? Thanks. Tab Trepagnier TSM Administrator Laitram, L.L.C. CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email and any attachments are for the exclusive and confidential use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, please do not read, distribute or take action in reliance upon this message. If you have received this in error, please notify us immediately by return email and promptly delete this message and its attachments from your computer system. We do not waive attorney-client or work product privilege by the transmission of this message.