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  3. March 2004

Re: UPS & Tape Drive

We have ordered a 3582 Ultrium 2 tape library to replace a 3490E autoloader. It holds 24 tapes, each with a capacity of 200GB uncompressed, double that with compression. It works best with 800-series models, but it can be attached to our older Model 740 with an SPD card. Transfer speed is greatly reduced when using the SPD card, but it's still four times faster than the 3490E. The gotcha is that the drive is matched to the controller card and cannot be changed. So if you purchase a drive for use with an SPD card, you'll have to replace it if you want to later go to fiberoptic. Total price with 20 cartridges and an upgrade to on-site 24/7 maintenance for the three-year warranty period right around $20,000. This includes only one drive; a second drive can be field installed.

If you use the drive for save and restore operations, remember that it needs to be attached to a card in a specific slot on the first bus if it's to be used as an alternate IPL device.
rob@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

Other's experience will differ but I detested the 3570. Had lots of errors.

In the 3580 and the 3590 world what particular model you are on makes a world of difference. (Providing your CPU even has enough horsepower to drive them at their rated speed.)
Traditionally the 3580 holds a LOT more data per tape. But the 3590's were faster. The newer 3580's blow the doors off of the older 3590's speedwise. The latest 3590 is only a small fraction faster than the latest 3580. However the 3580 still holds a LOT more data per tape.

We ordered four of the latest 3580's this week. We will be getting rid of two 3590's. The extra's were because some of the tapes had to run at different times of the night and our window of opportunity has been eliminated and thus the two saves will need to run parallel. The older 3580's will move to some of our other machines/partitions.

Nothing's perfect. Just had a 3580 this week that had a tape stuck and required a swap out. And this morning I heard from a former coworker that had the same situation at his location. First service call he's placed in 3 years, (couldn't remember IBM's phone number or his customer number, while mines permanently etched into my memory that I fear that it will be the last thing I forget as I sit drooling in the 'home'). Poor fellow got his replacement - it had a tape stuck in it from another location. One of our divisions screwed up and tried to send rejected parts back to the customer and now we have several plants closed and we lost a major outsourcing customer. Let IBM do it and we take it on the chin. I suppose that makes me the better man, eh?

Rob Berendt



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