>
>> (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...)
>
>You really have to look at risk vs. cost in this case. You can get into a
>VXA drive with a few tapes for $600-$700 and have an immediate 33-66Gb
>single-tape backup capacity. You'll pay about twice that much for a DDS
>equivalent, and more for anything else.
That would be great in many situations. In my particular case, I
need to specify everything I need for a two year time span (which in
my case means two drives plus all tapes and cleaning tapes, etc.) on
a single purchase order.
It looks to me, for my particular requirements, including the two
drives, required tapes, etc. that VXA is about halfway between DDS-2
and DDS-4 in price. If I was judging this purely on price & specs,
I'd go for the VXA, because of the promised reliability and only
needing a single tape/backup.
But in my particular situation, I cannot tolerate the risk that my
VXA drives may go bad a year from now and that no one besides Ecrix
could fix/replace them. How can I predict the responsiveness of the
Ecrix repair department over the years to come? Also, when my two
year supply of tapes is up, in mid-2002, will VXA tapes be readily
accessible and reasonably priced? Perhaps, perhaps not...
I know, for a fact, that there will be multiple sources to
repair/replace DDS-3 drives over the next 2 - 3 year, and that DDS-3
media will be available from multiple vendors over the next 2 - 3
years.
If I was looking basically 6 months ahead, or more of a gambler, I
would probably buy Ecrix anyway. It sounds like a great drive and I
wish them luck!
But I'm not a gambler, I'm a corporate clone that will have an angry
boss if my backup strategy fails in a year or so because I picked a
brand-new, single-source mechanism/media vendor that my boss never
heard of...
-Steve
--
----------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archives: <http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/>
Problems?: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
