Question about LTO4

[Kujtim Ereqi]

Hi all there,

LTO has been discussed a lot in this forum, so lately I made up my mind to get one. I was thinking about this Quantum kit:
http://www.provantage.com/quantum-tc-l42bn-ez~7QUAT08E.htm
"It includes Includes Backup Exec QuickStart software, data cartridge, cleaning cartridge,SFF8470 to SFF8088 SAS cable, LSI PCI express SAS HBA, power cord and product documentation."

I have read about LTO in the forum, but still need to ask some specific questions, since I never worked with a LTO driver before.

1- Can this be considered a complete kit? I mean do I need to buy anything else, a backup program for instance or the software included in the kit is enough for basic backup?
2- Is there any thing to consider about Quantum which will make me buy the more expensive HP LTO?
3- Any advice would be welcomed..

I am a Windows user..
Thanks in advance..

 

[Shane Betts]

One of the first questions you need answered Kujtim, is what is Quantum's support like in your area. I'm in Australia and Quantum support here is FANTASTIC. Reports I get back from the USA seem to indicate it's not so good over there (someone correct me if I'm wrong). There's a lot of moving parts in tape drives. Things can go wrong. Make sure you're not going to have to wait around for months for a solution if something breaks.

The next question is what are you planning on using it for. Backing up your edit suite or on set? That will govern the kind of software you need and that may have an impact on whether you buy it from the site you have linked or if you go to a software company like Bru who can also sell you hardware packages.

The next question is should you be looking at LTO5 now that it's in the wild. It's faster and has twice the capacity and, perhaps more importantly, is one generation further away from being out of date.

After that you have to think about where you're going to store the tapes once you've written to them. Not much point storing them in the same room as the RAID.:crying:

 

[Kujtim Ereqi]

Shane, thanks for taking time to answer..

As about support, for the moment I live in Kuwait, and both companies - Quantum and HP - do support Middle East, including Kuwait, through their Emirates office. That means I can't really know how the support would be..
As I said in my first post, I will only need basic backups, for RED footage after I finish editing. I don't think it will be more than 10-15 TB per year.. I will never use in on set.
I know about LTO5, but LTO4 is the one I can afford for the moment (There are always a lot of things to buy) and I really don't need that capacity. I will skip LTO5 and propably buy LTO6 when it comes out, which will be able to read my LTO4 tapes, and convert them to LTO6.

 

[Shane Betts]

In that case I would definitely look at the packages Bru supply. Don't know how they compare pricewise but Bru PE is OK for what you're proposing and it's getting better.