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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Quanum SDLT 600A

Mike, I usually agree with everything you have to say, but I disagree (partially) with your USB 2.0 assessments. It's true that so many USB2 devices really suck, I'll agree that most of them do. But this is due to poor implementation and cheap/shoddy chipsets. It also didn't help that the G5 power Mac systems (pre-Quad) had crap USB2.0 chipsets themselves. I've got some USB2 drives that perform every bit as well as FW400 and on large sequential streams can even outdo it.

I've seen reports that drobo can easily sustain 35~50MB/s depending on which drives are used, so that looks promising. I'm not promoting it as a workhorse RAID, but a convenient desktop backup and data storage device with some fault-tolerance.

As for the Quantum 600A, I still have a hard time believing that Gigabit ethernet connectivity and the ability to handle MXF containers justifies a $5500 premium. Especially when it's not even compatible with all flavors of MXF, nor can the drive deal with clip data itself without using additional software, which really creates a problem for some installations. Or If I really think about it, I definitely do understand the price premium... It's like everything else that finds an industry niche. Premium prices for one or two features that are inconsequential to most users.
 
I think the SDLT A is a fine solution but its simply pricey, something Drobo could work well if you were not so hung up on speed etc...just the right price for all the data management. Not to get off topic again but how does anyone else feel about these drobos?
 
The new LTO version of the Quantum 600A is not cheap, but if you look at what it does and compare it to traditional video tape decks, then it's a deal. Sure it retails for 8k, but that's nothing if it is replacing say a 50k HDCAM deck in your workflow. The nice thing about this drive is that it is small and can easily come on location with you. You simply back up your red drive straight to LTO3, on your laptop, while you're on the road. When you get back to your editing environment, it's great because it plugs right into your network and can be accessed by all editing machines, regardless of platform. 400gig per tape is ideal and you have the piece of mind of 30 year archiving life, the people who are backing up and shelving SATA drives absolutely don't have this, they don't even know if those drives are going to spin up a year down the road after they've been sitting. Sure it's not the best solution for everyone, but for us and our workflow, I have yet to see something better.

best regards,

jeremy
 
Thanks for all this great info guys. I am pretty sold on going the GigE route, but it sounds like if I wait till the last possible second to buy the system (before the end of the year for tax purposes) I might find the best deal.

Does anyone know of other storage companies that will be coming out with solutions similar to Quantum's around this time?

Also, I checked out Quantum's site for the LTO version of the 600a but couldn't find a page for it. Does anyone have a link?

Lastly, what would be the reason for going with DLT over LTO? LTO seems to have larger capacities and is faster. Is there something I'm missing here? Thanks,

Peter
 
LTO-4 is the newest version of LTO and it has an 800GB capacity. DLT-S4 also has an 800GB capacity. These are native, not compressed, numbers. It's near impossible to get an LTO-4 drive right now as they're really just starting to find their way to market. They'll be commonplace by the time your RED ships though and should be cheaper.

DLT-S5 should be available by the end of they year and it will have a 1.2TB per tape capacity. So that may be a bit more attractive, but I personally get a little paranoid when I start placing too much data all on one piece of media. I kinda like the 800GB tapes as they would allow for two RED DRIVEs plus a handful of CF cards and some other data and that's about it. Whether you plan to use tapes or hard drives or whatnot, I would highly recommend two copies of anything you back up and store them in different locations.

Typically, LTO is viewed as the most reliable of the current large-capacity data tapes. DLT-Sn is a close second... Transfer rates are similar between tape systems of equal capacities and it tends to fluctuate with various makes/models of drives. Honestly, I would happily use either and I think you should price out a few options and see what works best. IMO, the 600A really only offers the Gig-E interface as it's biggest feature. If you don't mind the extra cost, then that's fine. I would still recommend building a SFF PC to house an internal tape drive as it would literally save you $3K or more and be just as effective, possibly even more so as it could give you more capabilities and ways to interface to it. And it won't take up much more room either. The MXF features of the 600A are going to be of little use in a RED workflow and will require third-party software either way to make use of them.

We will definitely see more options with Gig-E and eSATA interfaces as well as FW800 over the coming months. I don't know of any specifics, but Sony has one eSATA tape drive (AIT tapes). Quantum and Exabyte have both mentioned eSATA as a future interface. I currently have a FW400 external tape system - uses 160GB native VXA2 tapes. I really like it, but that drive has been discontinued and is too small for RED drives anyway. And when I first bought it, tapes were $20 each, now they're close to $65, so I'll be migrating to a new backup solution myself. I'm seriously considering LTO-4, possibly even LTO-3 depending on price savings, but may also go with a DLT-S4/S5 system. I may tough it out for a while with hard drive backups too until I decide for sure. This is one decision that I'm not going to rush into or jump on until I really have to.
 
Thanks for the great info Jeff. It sounds like I should basically hold off on buying anything till I'm close to getting my Red. When you decide what backup system you're going to use, please be sure to post it here on the forums, as I'm sure there are many of us who trust your judgment in these matters and could mimic your setup. I am pretty set on going a tape-based route, but it will be interesting to see what options become available as the Red delivery date nears. For now I guess it's back to burning my P2 cards onto DVD's :)

Peter
 
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