We currently have 10 Sun/STK 9840 tape drives, each attached to its own ESCON CHPID.
I'm trying to decide whether to acquire the IBM 3590 configuration described below versus a similar number of FICON-attached STK 9840C drives, switched two or three per FICON CHPID. Of course, the Sun/STK rep claims the throughput on these 3590s is roughly equivalent to ESCON because the controller has an internal SCSI interface and hence we won't realize any substantial reduction in backup times with the IBM drives. I'm aware of the media conversion issues, but improved throughput is the primary objective. All constructive input is appreciated. Description Type Model / Feature MAGNETIC TAPE SUBSYSTEM 3490 C2A ESCON CHANNEL 3319 SUBSYSTEM PERF ENHANCEMENT 5045 DRIVE UNIT 3494 D12 DRIVE UNIT 3494 D12 DRIVE UNIT 3494 D12 DRIVE UNIT 3494 D14 LC FIBRE DRIVE ATTACH CTLR 3474 TP LIB DATASERVER 3494 L10 2ND DSK DRV FOR LIB MGR 5214 DUAL GRIPPER 5215 3590 CONTROLLER 3590 A00 FIRST ESCON/SCSI ADAPTERS 3311 3590 CONTROLLER 3590 A00 FIRST ESCON/SCSI ADAPTERS 3311 MAGSTAR TAPE SUBSYSTEM 3590 E1A MAGSTAR TAPE SUBSYSTEM 3590 E1A MAGSTAR TAPE SUBSYSTEM 3590 E1A MAGSTAR TAPE SUBSYSTEM 3590 E1A MAGSTAR TAPE SUBSYSTEM 3590 E1A MAGSTAR TAPE SUBSYSTEM 3590 E1A ENTERPRISE TAPE DRIVE 3590 H1A ENTERPRISE TAPE DRIVE 3590 H1A ENTERPRISE TAPE DRIVE 3590 H1A ENTERPRISE TAPE DRIVE 3590 H1A ENTERPRISE TAPE DRIVE 3590 H1A ENTERPRISE TAPE DRIVE 3590 H1A ENTERPRISE TAPE DRIVE 3590 H1A ENTERPRISE TAPE DRIVE 3590 H1A SAN SWITCH F16 16-PORT 2109 F16 VIRTUAL TAPE SERVER 3494 B10 FICON ATTACH-SHORT WAVELENGTH 3416 144/216 GB DISK STORAGE 3704 DRIVE UNIT 3494 D12 MAGSTAR TAPE SUBSYSTEM 3590 A60 FICON ATTACHMENT - SHORT WAVE 3433 ENTERPRISE TAPE DRIVE 3590 H1A ENTERPRISE TAPE DRIVE 3590 H1A ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
