Same experience here - Buying a "cheap" library is like knowing you've accepted the "low bidder" for brain surgery ;>)
We've been through exactly the same analysis, same strategy, same arguments, and fortunately have always had the same results - more cost effective in the long run to buy the big library up front. (BTW, in addition to the capital $$, remember that YOUR TIME for managing multiple libraries and changing libraries in and out is worth a LOT.) BUT, if you add another 3583, with LTO2, and upgrade your existing 3583 to LTO2 - KNOWING that in a couple of years you should be able to go to LTO3 - would that do it? A BIG advantage of the LTOx media is that the standard calls for write-compatibility for 1 generation back and read compatibility for 2 generations back. If you're growing so fast that 2 3583's with LTO2 won't hold your data for 3 years - I think you're gonna end up with a frame-based system anyway! Condolences, Wanda -----Original Message----- From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ben Bullock Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 2:50 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Tier'ed library Your posting caught my eye with 6 years and 10 different libraries. We have been on TSM(adsm) for almost 8 years now. When the system was first speced out, they did some cost analysis and decided that the 3494 tape library with the 3590 tape drives were the best solution for the long-term. As you know that is a frame system and it is NOT CHEAP. There was a lot of weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, with folk's wanting cheaper solutions up front. The evaluation group kept to their guns and the library was bought. Well, we are now 8 years down the road and the libraries are still in use. They are the oldest things in the computer rooms, long depreciated off the books, but still working like a champ. We've extended on and on and on as the storage in the environment has exploded with very little re-work or downtime. Yes we had to upgrade the 3590 drives to the various iterations of capacity, but the library is still the same. I feel it was a wise investment that is still paying dividends today. We have some remote sites which went cheap on some DLTs at the same time and they are once again looking at their 3rd iteration of tape libraries. They once again want to go cheap, but we are pressing them to get a 3584 with LTO2 tapes so they can install it once and then expand it. Just my 2 cents. Ben -----Original Message----- From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tab Trepagnier Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 12:23 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Tier'ed library TSM Server 5.1.9.0 on AIX 5.2 ML-2 TSM Server 5.2 media on hand We have outgrown our 3583 and 3575s, so I'm looking for a new tape library. At first I though my only choices were another standalone library like the 3583 or go with a frame system like the 3584. I have problems with both approaches. The standalone library, while cheaper, means that in 2-3 years I will have filled up yet another library now destined to collect dust in a corner. Since ADSM 2 six years ago we have use 10 different libraries or autoloaders on our system. Five of them are still in service. That is ridiculous. The frame system is just too expensive for our little company. We've obtained quotes for four and six drive configurations using LVDS and FC, and the price range is $125K - $180K. That's a LOT of money to us. So I'm thinking that a standalone library that can be expanded in tiers would be an effective way to "split the difference." Start smaller with one tier, and simply add a tier once we've outgrown it. I'm thinking four LTO-2 drives using LVDS connectivity to start. Initial *real* capacity should be about 10 TB. It should accept at least two additional tiers before maxing out. It must be supported by some variant of TSM 5.x. What has been the experience of forum users with libraries of that type? Do you have any brand/model recommendations? Models to avoid? Thanks in advance. Tab Trepagnier TSM Administrator Laitram, L.L.C.
