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Jeff Kilgroe
Well-known member
Some of you may have caught my other post to a related thread in the accessories forum... Here is the actual review.
I had been trying to get a good LTO backup solution in place for a while on a Mac Pro tower. When I first started trying to figure this all out, there was very little information out there pertaining to my ideal configuration or anything similar. I wanted to go with a SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) interface rather than conventional SCSI-3. It's more future-proof and provides a much more user-friendly interface without the need for terminations and expensive cables.
One configuration I had my eye on was the Quantum LTO-4HH desktop unit, but could never get any confirmation from Quantum or any software vendors as to whether or not this unit would work on a Mac. Eventually it was pointed out to me by another reduser member (flameop), that this drive does work with the companion LSI SAS controller and the Retrospect backup software. Sure enough, checking with Quantum also confirmed this as they had qulified this drive on OSX since the last time I had looked at it. EMC Insignia had also qualified the drive for their OSX version of Retrospect. I took the plunge and bought one. I recommend doing a search on Nextag.com to pull up the best price. But I bought the drive kit and 5 additional blank tapes (6 tapes total) plus the Retrospect software all for less than $2850 after shipping costs. By comparison, this is roughly double the initial cost of setting up with an LTO-3 system. This kit is also less than half the price of the often recommended LTO-3A that connects via ethernet.
The LTO-4HH comes in a few different bundles, which to buy?
I went with the TC-L42BN-EZ kit. That is the external desktop drive, PCI express SAS controller, a 3ft SAS cable, blank 800GB tape, a cleaning cartridge and Symantec software for the PC.
This kit is also available with everything listed except for the SAS cable. This is the kit (TC-L42BN-EY) you will want if you need a longer SAS cable and it seems to sell for $30 to $50 less.
Other kit options are available for European and Asian markets. There are also internal drive kits available too. The drive (internal or external) can be purchased without the SAS HBA card, however under OSX this is probably not a wise choice to combine it with a different SAS controller. It seems the LSI is one of the few SAS controllers with proper OSX support and the only one that seems compatible with the Quantum LTO drives.
Installation, technical experience needed...
Setting up the drive was a snap. I'm an experienced IT guy, but I didn't have to flex my IT muscles on this one. From the time I started opening the box to the time I was playing around in the backup software to configure a backup set and see if the drive was working, was literally about 5 minutes.
Don't go looking for the instructions, there really aren't any included. Or at least none of any use. Just a small paper that mostly explains how to install the internal unit in case you don't know how to install an internal drive in a PC.
On the Mac, simply power down, install the card in an available slot, connect the drive and power everything on. Done. OSX handles driver support for you. Load the Retrospect software (download latest version from the web).
Operation...
In OSX, tape systems do not show up as other mounted media does. You will find tape drives listed in your system profiler, under their respective host adapters. The drive shows up as Quantum, Ultrium 4, Firmware Rev. 2104, which is current.
The only way to access the drive is with the Retrospect software. Other software solutions are better, and more expensive, but do not currently support this hardware. The good thing about Retrospect 6.1 for the Mac is it's very inexpensive, about $80 for the desktop edition and that covers backup for one workstation plus two networked client systems with the option to buy more client licenses. Buying Retrospect 6.1 now also qualifies for a free upgrade to Retrospect X, which is about to enter beta testing and it is a completely re-written application that appears to be leaps and bounds better than the current software. Retrospect 6.1 also fully supports OSX 10.5.x and is running great here.
With the current software, it's fairly straight-forward to create backup sets and schedule automated jobs, even jobs that span multiple tapes. It's also easy to open the software and do immediate backups with new sets or with pre-defined sets. I can open Retrospect and choose immediate backup, load a tape and choose my RED_Projects set from the menu. It's preset to copy all my R3D project folders (even new ones within the master folder) from my primary RAID and dump it to tape(s), very simple. It comes with a users' guide that's about 1" thick, but honestly, you won't need it. Very simple software, although it is a bit limited or restrictive in some ways.
Retrospect does full file cataloging. Which means that if a specific file or group of files need to be retrieved from a tape, it's easy to do so.
Performance...
This is my biggest complaint about Retrospect on OSX. The software makes little attempt to pre-load and cache files to be backed up. It doesn't attempt to maximize tape throughput. Backing up lots of small files can really slow things down, on my first backup of about 745GB, it took 11 hours to do the backup with a full verify pass. That translates to about 1/4 of the theoretical maximum speed of the tape drive. My drive systems are not a bottleneck as the slower of my two RAIDs can sustain 220MB/s. The faster RAID can sustain almost 450GB/s. Another backup of mostly all very large files has been done since then and I have sustained better than 65% of the advertised speed, which seems decent. That's roughly 75MB/s. But it's hard when Retrospect starts copying as it spins up the tape and then starts to slow the copy operation as it seeks to the next file on the source drives. Like I said, little effort to optimize tape write speed by prepping source data. Hopefully the upcoming Retrospect X will improve on this. This speed issue seems to be the #1 complaint in online forums about Retrospect Mac with the larger and faster tape systems like LTO-3 / LTO-4.
Conclusion...
This is a very nice backup solution onto an industry-standard archival medium. Based on my own experiences in the IT field, spanning more than a dozen years of working with backups and data storage types, I feel very confident in this solution. I would trust it more than archiving to hard drives. When considering costs, this is a very affordable solution, especially as the amounts of data being archived increase. 800GB tapes are about $70-$75 each, which gives them a cheaper $ per GB ratio than hard drives. So it's only a matter of time (or a certain number of tapes) before the cost difference offsets the initial investment into the tape drive kit. Each user will have to run the numbers to see if this solution is right for them. The legacy LTO-3 format may be a better fit for many as the tapes are still cheaper per GB (although the gap is closing fast) and the drives are less than half the cost of the LTO-4 units.
I am very pleased so far. My primary complaint is the speed I'm experiencing with Retrospect, but it is a known issue. I find the convenience of having 800GB of tape backup right at my desktop to outweigh the speed concerns as my backups can be done in off hours and I rarely back up a full 800GB in one shot. The only other complaint I have is the fan noise from this unit.
The internal cooling fan, which is on 100% all times this unit is powered on, is stupidly loud. I feel Quantum should have and could have done a lot better here. Considering this drive is intended for desktop use in an office environment, it seems odd they didn't try harder. On the bright side, I only have to power it on when I go to make a backup -- just don't forget to have it powered-up if you have a scheduled backup! It's not an advertised feature, but the drive can be powered on and off independently of the host system. SAS supports hot-plug devices as part of the standard. Make sure all cables are properly connected before powering on though! The drive itself does not support any of the SAS power features like power control and standby modes, etc.. Which would have been very nice for this external desktop unit. Given the noise issue, I would be tempted to order the internal drive kit and find a third-party enclosure to house it. Unfortunately, I have done some looking (not extensive looking) and have not found a proper enclosure. It needs an enclosure to accommodate a 5.25" Half Height drive (like a typical optical drive). The catch is finding one with a SAS interface.
All things considered, this is a very user-friendly solution that is both cost-effective and appears to be very reliable. For anyone who will be making regular backups of large amounts of data, I highly recommend investigating this option. As with all LTO formats (with the exception of the LTO-3A series), this drive is backward compatible and can read and write LTO-3 and LTO-2 tapes. It provides read-only access to LTO-1 media.
I had been trying to get a good LTO backup solution in place for a while on a Mac Pro tower. When I first started trying to figure this all out, there was very little information out there pertaining to my ideal configuration or anything similar. I wanted to go with a SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) interface rather than conventional SCSI-3. It's more future-proof and provides a much more user-friendly interface without the need for terminations and expensive cables.
One configuration I had my eye on was the Quantum LTO-4HH desktop unit, but could never get any confirmation from Quantum or any software vendors as to whether or not this unit would work on a Mac. Eventually it was pointed out to me by another reduser member (flameop), that this drive does work with the companion LSI SAS controller and the Retrospect backup software. Sure enough, checking with Quantum also confirmed this as they had qulified this drive on OSX since the last time I had looked at it. EMC Insignia had also qualified the drive for their OSX version of Retrospect. I took the plunge and bought one. I recommend doing a search on Nextag.com to pull up the best price. But I bought the drive kit and 5 additional blank tapes (6 tapes total) plus the Retrospect software all for less than $2850 after shipping costs. By comparison, this is roughly double the initial cost of setting up with an LTO-3 system. This kit is also less than half the price of the often recommended LTO-3A that connects via ethernet.
The LTO-4HH comes in a few different bundles, which to buy?
I went with the TC-L42BN-EZ kit. That is the external desktop drive, PCI express SAS controller, a 3ft SAS cable, blank 800GB tape, a cleaning cartridge and Symantec software for the PC.
This kit is also available with everything listed except for the SAS cable. This is the kit (TC-L42BN-EY) you will want if you need a longer SAS cable and it seems to sell for $30 to $50 less.
Other kit options are available for European and Asian markets. There are also internal drive kits available too. The drive (internal or external) can be purchased without the SAS HBA card, however under OSX this is probably not a wise choice to combine it with a different SAS controller. It seems the LSI is one of the few SAS controllers with proper OSX support and the only one that seems compatible with the Quantum LTO drives.
Installation, technical experience needed...
Setting up the drive was a snap. I'm an experienced IT guy, but I didn't have to flex my IT muscles on this one. From the time I started opening the box to the time I was playing around in the backup software to configure a backup set and see if the drive was working, was literally about 5 minutes.
Don't go looking for the instructions, there really aren't any included. Or at least none of any use. Just a small paper that mostly explains how to install the internal unit in case you don't know how to install an internal drive in a PC.
On the Mac, simply power down, install the card in an available slot, connect the drive and power everything on. Done. OSX handles driver support for you. Load the Retrospect software (download latest version from the web).
Operation...
In OSX, tape systems do not show up as other mounted media does. You will find tape drives listed in your system profiler, under their respective host adapters. The drive shows up as Quantum, Ultrium 4, Firmware Rev. 2104, which is current.
The only way to access the drive is with the Retrospect software. Other software solutions are better, and more expensive, but do not currently support this hardware. The good thing about Retrospect 6.1 for the Mac is it's very inexpensive, about $80 for the desktop edition and that covers backup for one workstation plus two networked client systems with the option to buy more client licenses. Buying Retrospect 6.1 now also qualifies for a free upgrade to Retrospect X, which is about to enter beta testing and it is a completely re-written application that appears to be leaps and bounds better than the current software. Retrospect 6.1 also fully supports OSX 10.5.x and is running great here.
With the current software, it's fairly straight-forward to create backup sets and schedule automated jobs, even jobs that span multiple tapes. It's also easy to open the software and do immediate backups with new sets or with pre-defined sets. I can open Retrospect and choose immediate backup, load a tape and choose my RED_Projects set from the menu. It's preset to copy all my R3D project folders (even new ones within the master folder) from my primary RAID and dump it to tape(s), very simple. It comes with a users' guide that's about 1" thick, but honestly, you won't need it. Very simple software, although it is a bit limited or restrictive in some ways.
Retrospect does full file cataloging. Which means that if a specific file or group of files need to be retrieved from a tape, it's easy to do so.
Performance...
This is my biggest complaint about Retrospect on OSX. The software makes little attempt to pre-load and cache files to be backed up. It doesn't attempt to maximize tape throughput. Backing up lots of small files can really slow things down, on my first backup of about 745GB, it took 11 hours to do the backup with a full verify pass. That translates to about 1/4 of the theoretical maximum speed of the tape drive. My drive systems are not a bottleneck as the slower of my two RAIDs can sustain 220MB/s. The faster RAID can sustain almost 450GB/s. Another backup of mostly all very large files has been done since then and I have sustained better than 65% of the advertised speed, which seems decent. That's roughly 75MB/s. But it's hard when Retrospect starts copying as it spins up the tape and then starts to slow the copy operation as it seeks to the next file on the source drives. Like I said, little effort to optimize tape write speed by prepping source data. Hopefully the upcoming Retrospect X will improve on this. This speed issue seems to be the #1 complaint in online forums about Retrospect Mac with the larger and faster tape systems like LTO-3 / LTO-4.
Conclusion...
This is a very nice backup solution onto an industry-standard archival medium. Based on my own experiences in the IT field, spanning more than a dozen years of working with backups and data storage types, I feel very confident in this solution. I would trust it more than archiving to hard drives. When considering costs, this is a very affordable solution, especially as the amounts of data being archived increase. 800GB tapes are about $70-$75 each, which gives them a cheaper $ per GB ratio than hard drives. So it's only a matter of time (or a certain number of tapes) before the cost difference offsets the initial investment into the tape drive kit. Each user will have to run the numbers to see if this solution is right for them. The legacy LTO-3 format may be a better fit for many as the tapes are still cheaper per GB (although the gap is closing fast) and the drives are less than half the cost of the LTO-4 units.
I am very pleased so far. My primary complaint is the speed I'm experiencing with Retrospect, but it is a known issue. I find the convenience of having 800GB of tape backup right at my desktop to outweigh the speed concerns as my backups can be done in off hours and I rarely back up a full 800GB in one shot. The only other complaint I have is the fan noise from this unit.
The internal cooling fan, which is on 100% all times this unit is powered on, is stupidly loud. I feel Quantum should have and could have done a lot better here. Considering this drive is intended for desktop use in an office environment, it seems odd they didn't try harder. On the bright side, I only have to power it on when I go to make a backup -- just don't forget to have it powered-up if you have a scheduled backup! It's not an advertised feature, but the drive can be powered on and off independently of the host system. SAS supports hot-plug devices as part of the standard. Make sure all cables are properly connected before powering on though! The drive itself does not support any of the SAS power features like power control and standby modes, etc.. Which would have been very nice for this external desktop unit. Given the noise issue, I would be tempted to order the internal drive kit and find a third-party enclosure to house it. Unfortunately, I have done some looking (not extensive looking) and have not found a proper enclosure. It needs an enclosure to accommodate a 5.25" Half Height drive (like a typical optical drive). The catch is finding one with a SAS interface.
All things considered, this is a very user-friendly solution that is both cost-effective and appears to be very reliable. For anyone who will be making regular backups of large amounts of data, I highly recommend investigating this option. As with all LTO formats (with the exception of the LTO-3A series), this drive is backward compatible and can read and write LTO-3 and LTO-2 tapes. It provides read-only access to LTO-1 media.
