Re: Virtual Tape - spanning volumes

["Larry \"DrFranken\" Bolhuis" <midrange@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I agree that if you just HAVE to have physical media, USB is probably 
the new standard. It has worked for IBM i for many years and several 
releases. While early releases limited capacity to rather small sticks 
that was still not a problem for software distribution or fix 
distribution either.

Physical tape is still good for air-gaped backups and longer term 
storage but that's a lot of coin to have sitting just for software 
transfers. Add to that the cost of a single modern LTO tape will by you 
a box full of USB sticks and for the cost of the drive you could by TB 
of USB sticks!

NOTE: I am NOT advocating for USB sticks to be your primary backup method!!

Also agree that with 'The Internet' getting more and more robust that is 
the go to method for virtually all software installation. Yum Yum!

	- L

On 8/30/2021 7:25 AM, Rob Berendt wrote:
> Patrik,
> What version of LTO?  :-)
> If LTO was a standard drive supplied with systems, as some software vendors used to fantasize, then the vendor with the V4R2 maxed out machine with a LTO1 would play heck trying to distribute that tape to the P9 user with their LTO7.  That, and that an internal tape drive on a 2U or even a 4U machine would take some serious real estate.  Especially for those shops that would only use such a drive for a new vendor software release every few years.  And would never use it for their nightly backups.
> But I don't hear this from vendors so much anymore.  I think they realized this is never going to happen and downloading of new releases is more common with faster internet, etc.
> I was going to mention that DVD was kind of a standard but even that is not being supplied much.  On my P9's I have to use a portable DVD on the rare occasions that I use one.  Most newer laptops don't even come with DVD anymore.
> Perhaps the USB thumb drive is the new interchange standard for those who just have to have physical media.
>
> Rob Berendt