On Wed, 16 Jul 2003 23:14:53 +0000 (UTC), nobody@nowhere.com wrote:

>In comp.os.linux.misc Sotiris Tsaftaris <stsaft@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>: To summarize, go with the new and really cheap! VXA-2, go with quantum
>: DLT vs160 for double the price, or rely on DLT 8000.
>
>Since your "reliability" requirement comes before your "price"
>requirement, I'd have to seriously recommend against the "new and
>cheap". I'd never trust my data to any helical drive.

Which does rather show your ignorance of the topic!

> The linear drives
>were developed specifically for hi-rel use, plus have a very
>large and excellent track record.

Ummm.. for some value of "large" and "excellent".

You obviously are unaware that helical recording was invented
specifically for recording stuff where reliability was paramount. We
call it "broadcast"...

(As in what TV stations used for years).

Of course, for any given technology there are *good* implementations
and *bad* ones. However, if *anyone* claims that a given technology
(e.g. helical or linear) is intrinsically unreliable, I'd conclude
that that person is unqualified to offer sound advice.

>You might want to consider a removable hard drive instead of tapes.
>Faster, probably cheaper, and likely as reliable, plus larger media
>so you need less of the media.

Bad advice. Consider failure modes...

[ Snip ]

>Stan

Malc.