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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 :)

Has anyone used mLOGIC mTape LTO-6 drives?

Manfred Lopez

Manfred Lopez

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We finally exhausted all of our storage and it's time for an LTO archival solution. So while looking around for the latest and greatest, I noticed that there is a new inexpensive drive from mLogic that supposedly works with the nMP through thunderbolt. Has anyone used it? How necessary is it to purchase separate software like Bru? I think one can use this drive straight out of the box to start backing up stuff.

Edit:

Here's the link:

http://www.mlogic.com/products/mtape
 
I have one. It uses LTFS, which means it cannot read conventional tapes that are direct TAR images. This is not the fault of mLogic. This is due to the way Apple has decided to support (or not support) legacy standards.

I am very unhappy that to interoperate with mTape, I have to migrate all my LTO-5 tapes (that were backed up from Linux servers) to LTFS (which Linux *also* supports).
 
Michael Tiemann said:
I have one. It uses LTFS, which means it cannot read conventional tapes that are direct TAR images. This is not the fault of mLogic. This is due to the way Apple has decided to support (or not support) legacy standards.

I am very unhappy that to interoperate with mTape, I have to migrate all my LTO-5 tapes (that were backed up from Linux servers) to LTFS (which Linux *also* supports).
Click to expand...

I'm sorry to hear that. But I suppose on the bright side of all this is that once they are migrated/updated to LTFS format, the tapes will be readable across all brands of decks from now on. At least that's what I was led to believe. I'm new to this whole LTO thing, so I'm still trying to figure out the best options for archiving Red footage off of a nMP with a Pegasus2 R8. This mLogic unit seemed like a seamless solution. But I guess from what you are saying it's only seamless if one is starting fresh to make LTO tapes.
 
Apple doesn't have native tape drive support in OS X. They never have. You need to install additional software, from a third party. This also includes the LTFS driver and tools you are using. Tolis Group make their Tolis Tape Tools for OS X, which gives you tape system control and can be used with the base unix functionality of OS X to read your TAR format tapes.

Moving forward, LTFS is where it's at... Yeah, time to migrate and consolidate, but I know... what a pain, right?
 
If I were to purchase the mTape drive for my Apple workstation, would I need any extra software for the computer to see the tape drive? I'm not interested in legacy format compatibility, just in the market for a plug & play turnkey LTO solution.
 
It is plug-and-play in terms of saving files in directories off to a backup medium. However, if you want the bells and whistles of backup software (which actually verifies every bit written), you would need that as extra. The BRU papers explain their value proposition...you can decide if you care or not.
 
Opening this topic up again.

Is this unit worth it?

Im having a hard time with the price.
 
The initial cost feels steep at like 3500k. But 30-40 bucks for 6TB storage with a 30 yr shelf life is going to pay dividends if you really have the need for such deep storage. I have clients who rely on the fact that we archive in case re-edits need doing. I have had Glyphs fail after a few years which is scary. The Pegasus is cool. But if you have filled that up then it's probably time. It all depends if it is essential for business, or just not being able to let anything go:)
 
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Eric,

You might find a suitable enclosure at Addonics. I have a 4 drive esata raid i built with one a couple of years ago.

http://www.addonics.com/category/disk_array.php

Their prices are relatively good. Especially their 4 space rackmount. I am planning on building a new storage array with 2 sas rackmount enclosures.

http://www.addonics.com/products/r1msas.php

And an OWC/Newertech RAID card

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/NewerTech/MXPRMS6G2E/

Not as fancy as an Areca raid...but we'll see how it fares.

Chris
 
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Eric Santiago said:
Good find.

I wonder if OWC builds housing for this for older Mac Pro's.

Edit: chatting with Quantum rep and they state it works on the Mac with right drivers. Just not sure what software to use with.
Click to expand...

You just use LTFS, all the drives are basically the same - quantum/hp/ibm. Just add a non-raid sas card, you don't need any special drivers.

Alternatively, a Japanese company called Unitex, has a SAS/USB3 bridgeboard, several companies are repackaging this, including IBM itself, so you can have an external USB3 LTO-6 drive.
I have not tried it, Unitex said there was a small performance penalty vs native sas, around 150MB/sec vs 160MB/sec. Kinda cool, easy to move between machines.
LTO-6 its slow, 160MB/sec is ideal - large files, transfer small files, like image sequences and big performance drop. No reason for thunderbolt.
 
I jumped off this for now due to funds moving towards a daily transport/master back-up system from set.

Went with a GRAID Studio 6TB and a few extra spares.

I will revisit this unit when I can justify a 3K tape solution.
 
I've worked with the mTape Thunderbolt a bunch more since last time posting about it. I still have the same nitpicks as before -- the power adapter should have been integrated so we just need a power cord, the unit is only Thunderbolt 1.0. The SAS expander port on the rear has become a much appreciated feature. I can connect one of our LTO-4 units via that port without going to an additional TB expander and SAS card. Then I can unload from older LTO-3 tapes we still have for re-consolidating onto LTO-6. The TB port is handy, I can quickly and easily move the unit between a few of the Macs and PCs to occasionally back up projects on them. It usually resides connected to my 8-core Mac Pro cylinder, but I can put it anywhere. Only have one workstation right now without a TB port.

If I could change anything about this unit, I would make it Thunderbolt 2.0 to better play with other current TB devices or the additional bandwidth allotment with the second channel via TB2.0 could allow for an additional USB3 or eSATA port on the rear in addition to the SAS expansion.
 
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