On Mon, Jun 27, 2005 at 01:27:53PM +0200, Michael Knigge wrote: > is it somehow possible to write "standard" Tape-Cardridges with a PC > (running Linux or Windows or Hercules with somewhat-os) so the tape can > be read with a mainframe running z/OS (3480 format)?
Sure. It'll be a bit on the expensive side, though. You can get 3480 or 3490 (and maybe newer, though I don't know for sure) drives with SCSI interfaces, which you can then hook up to a PC. I've got a Fujitsu 3490-equivalent drive hooked up to one of my Hercules development boxes. (Not 3490E, though; as I understand it, 3490E is 36 tracks, while 3490 is the same as 3480 witn IDRC. Right?) SCSI 3480s tend to be quite expensive, though: prices in the several thousand dollar range are common. Hercules on Windows or Linux can make any SCSI tape look like a 3420, 3480, or 3490 to the OS running on it. You can also read or write tapes natively under Linux, though if you want SL processing you get to deal with the labels yourself. Reading or writing tape on Windows is MUCH harder. Finally the current CVS version of Hercules includes a tapecopy program that can read real tape and write AWSTAPE, and read AWSTAPE and write real tape. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
