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From: peterk@hpcpbla.HP.COM (Peter King)
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi
Subject: Re: DAT versus 8mm Tape
Message-ID: <9850005@hpcpbla.HP.COM>
Date: 8 Nov 90 08:56:34 GMT
References: <272DB1E1.9737@orion.oac.uci.edu>
Organization: HP Computer Peripherals Bristol, UK
Lines: 76


                 A Few Thoughts On Your DAT vs 8mm Choice
                ========================================

I thought I would add to the current debate with a few pointers:

* You may be interested to know that HP has just announced 2 new DAT
  drives:

  - A low cost drive with 2 GByte capacity, and
  - A high performance drive, with built-in Data Compression with
    capacity of up to 8 GBytes.
  - Both drives have a 3.5" Half Height Form Factor.

  The drives will be demonstrated at Comdex next week and should be
  shipping in volume by mid-91.

  Both drives will support 90m DAT cassettes to increase capacity beyond
  the current 1.3 GBytes (60m tape). The high performance drive uses
  hardware data compression to enhance performance and capacity. Expect
  to see a compression ratio in the range 2 to 4 (Typically around 2.5
  on most UN*X systems) giving a maximum capacity of 8 GBytes and a maximum
  transferrate of 732 KBytes/s. (>2.5 GBytes/hour!).

  All in a 3.5" package.

* Industry Analysts predict a bright future for DAT. The leading analysts
  seem to agree that:

  DAT shipments are expected to outstrip 8mm shipments during 1991 for
  the first time - with DAT forecast shipments running at around 150,000
  units during 1991 (up on around 60,000 in 1990).

  Forecasts show DAT shipments running at around 1/2 million per year by
  1994 - more than double the 8mm forecast of around 200,000 units.

* Industry Analysts also predict that DAT is likely to be far cheaper than
  8mm - partly the result of DAT's 3.5" form factor.

* The DDS Standards activity is also likely to play a major part in DAT's
  success.

  The DDS Standard has now been adopted as an ECMA Standard and is
  anticipated to become an ANSI Standard in the first haly of 1991.

  There are now 18 companies participating in the DDS Manufacturers Group
  - including Exabyte and most of the major Quarter Inch Cartridge
    manufacturers.

* There are also hundreds of different DAT solutions. DAT is supported on
  systems from HP and DEC - with third party support on Sun systems, IBM PC
  compatibles, SCO Un*x, Novell etc. The list goes on!

* Check-out Digital Review's recent article (June 90). They look at the
  issue of 8mm performance and capacity. Their results are interesting.
  They show that 8mm capacity and transfer rate are significantly reduced
  when short saveset sizes are used. For example:

              Saveset Size              8mm Capacity

                25 MBytes                  2 GBytes
                 5 MBytes                  1.4 GBytes
                 1 MBytes                  560 MBytes

  And they also conclude that for savesets of less than 125 MBytes DAT
  Transfer Rate is faster than 8mm.

  Performance and capacity are not simple "scalar" quantities - they depend
  significantly upon the application as DR's review shows.

I hope this information helps you make your choice. 8mm was clearly first
to market but the future looks really bright for DAT.

Regards,

Peter King.