RE: 8mm Tape Media (was RE: CODE/400 - TCP)

You built your house with 8mm tape - no wonder the roof leaks !   :-)

OK - one BIG caveat.  You MUST treat them carefully (as Al would
probably say, like a $500 hooker).
(OK - apologies in advance, no flames please).
AND clean the drive at the recommended intervals.
For example, if you DO drop one, the recommendation is that the tape be
replaced.
I've been using them for over 5 years, and I'll admit I do have one
hanging on a picture hook by the loose tape coming out of the cartridge,
but that one WAS dropped and I saw the operator pick it up and insert it
in the drive.
Big mistake !
Also, you occasionally run into some cheap bas***d who will try to use
an 8mm Video tape in the drive to save a few dollars.  Duh !
And as I said, I wouldn't recommend them for long term archiving.



Neil Palmer                                AS/400~~~~~      
NxTrend Technology - Canada   ____________          ___  ~     
Thornhill, Ontario,  Canada   |OOOOOOOOOO| ________  o|__||=   
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Fax:   (905) 731-9202       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
mailto:NPalmer@NxTrend.com    AS/400  The Ultimate Business Server      
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Al Barsa, Jr. [SMTP:barsa2@ibm.net]
> Sent: Friday, March 27, 1998 9:04 PM
> To:   MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
> Subject:      Re: 8mm Tape Media (was RE: CODE/400 - TCP)
> 
> At 07:23 PM 3/25/98 -0600, you wrote:
> >Dean, 
> >
> >IMHO 8mm is the best media you could select for an alternate IPL
> device
> >(yeah, we've all heard about long term storage problems on 8mm, just
> >like your VHS tapes at home, but are you going to be reloading a
> system
> >or doing a release upgrade from a 10 year old 8mm tape ?).  I've
> >reloaded several systems from 8mm tapes after a disk failure and
> (using
> >a program I copy into QSYS) once the OS/400 is reinstalled I call one
> >program and leave it for half a day to restore everything unattended.
> >
> 
> I hate to disagree with Neil, however one of my specialties is
> repairing
> damaged tapes.  95% of this business comes from 8mm tapes.
> 
> I think that 8mm is great.  It built my house.
> 
> In my opinion, 8mm tape is as safe as a $20 hooker, but clearly
> nowhere
> nearly as fast.
> 
> Al
> 
> Al Barsa, Jr. - Account for Midrange-L
> Barsa Consulting, LLC.        
> 400 > 390
> 
> Phone:        914-251-9400
> Fax:  914-251-9406
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Private mail should be sent to barsa@ibm.net
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