I am using a Sony DDS-3 autochanger (8 tapes) which cost us ~$2300 in June of '99.
So far it has been exponentially better than the HP DDS-2 it was replacing.
>I had thought I had decided on getting DDS-4 but now am considering
>DDS-3 in its place, for use with a Retrospect backup of mostly Mac
>clients and a few PCs.
>
>My previous experience with DDS-2 was very unhappy -- too much
>maintenance, too much downtime, too many ever-changing
>recommendations about what brand of media to use, etc.
>
>I have been assured by several DDS-4 users on this list (thanks!)
>that DDS-4 is much more reliable and easy to deal with.
>
>However, I'm now thinking about going DDS-3 instead. I can't do a
>full backup of my environment with a single DDS-4 tape anyway (it
>would take two) and with DDS-3 it would take three, so either way I
>will have to deal with multiple tapes. (The only single-tape solution
>in my price range is VXA, which sounds very nice, but there is NO WAY
>I will go with a new, single-vendor solution...)
>
>LaCie DDS-3 from MacWarehouse costs about $800 compared to $1150 for DDS-4.
>
>DDS-3 media seems to cost about half as much as DDS-4 media, even
>though it holds more than half as much data. (12GB vs 20GB)
>
>When I look at the prices of the drives and media, it appears that I
>would save a considerable amount of money by using DDS-3 instead of
>DDS-4.
>
>Cost and day-to-day reliability are very important to me. Also
>crucial is future support (2 - 4 years down the road) for drive
>repairs and availability of media.
>
>Speed, dealing with a few extra tape cartridges, and the ability to
>read anyone else's DDS-4 tape are NOT important to me.
>
>Can anyone think of a reason why I should get a DDS-4 instead of a
>DDS-3, given these conditions?
>
>In terms of reliability, is DDS-3 more like DDS-2 or DDS-4?
>
>Thanks for your advice. -Steve
>
>
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