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- Xref: sparky comp.unix.sys5.r4:1068 comp.unix.sysv386:17646
- Path: sparky!uunet!gatech!emory!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!destroyer!mudos!mudos!not-for-mail
- From: mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst)
- Newsgroups: comp.unix.sys5.r4,comp.unix.sysv386
- Subject: Re: Will Dell load off a Wangdat DAT?
- Date: 31 Dec 1992 01:49:48 -0500
- Organization: /usr/share/news/organization
- Lines: 32
- Message-ID: <1hu56cINNlvd@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us>
- References: <2B35DCC4.64AB@telly.on.ca> <BzoFqD.G50@chinet.chi.il.us> <C00z28.Fv2@hsi.com>
-
- In article <C00z28.Fv2@hsi.com> hogue@hsi.com (Jim Hogue) writes:
- >the SCSI tape drives that will read the Dell distribution? The Unix
- >support people at Dell suggested the Wangtec 325/525 QIC drive. They
- >also sell the cheaper Colorado Jumbo 250, but aren't sure it works
- >under unix. What have others used successfully?
-
- The Colorado Jumbo 250 won't read the Dell distribution at all; it is
- a minicartridge drive, and I belive that Dell is only available on
- fullsize QIC (as well as DAT and so forth, but you knew that). You
- don't want a Colorado tape drive anyway, as once you get the dedicated
- tape controller (necessary if you want to use the floppy drive and the
- tape drive simultaneously -- a feature that is useful for restoring
- your root filesystem after booting from a floppy) and the Unix drivers
- from Colorado (necessary if you want to use the drive at all, as Dell
- doesn't support it out of the box), you've spent almost as much (if
- not more) as you would have paid for a fullsize QIC drive. Also note
- that the advertised 250MB capacity for the Colorado drive is assuming
- a better-than-2:1 compression ratio for the data you store; the actual
- bit capacity of the tape is only 120MB. Fullsize 250MB QIC drives, on
- the other hand, store 250MB uncompressed.
-
- Both the Archive 2150S and the Wangtek 150/250 tape drive are pretty
- good; which one you choose is mostly a matter of taste and which you
- can get for less. I personally have a 2150S, but that's mostly
- because I was able to pick up a refurbished unit at a liquidation sale
- for $120.
-
- --
- Marc Unangst, N8VRH | "Of course, in order to understand this you
- mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us | have to remember that the nucleus of the atom
- | is squishy."
- | -W. Scheider, from a Physics lecture
-