Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!know!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!unix.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!netnews.upenn.edu!msuinfo!midway!chsun1!kusumoto From: kusumoto@chsun1.uchicago.edu (Bob Kusumoto) Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi Subject: Re: DAT versus 8mm Tape Message-ID: Date: 11 Nov 90 06:11:02 GMT References: <272DB1E1.9737@orion.oac.uci.edu> <27388281.13536@orion.oac.uci.edu> <9350@b11.ingr.com> <90Nov8.220601est.7752@neat.cs.toronto.edu> <673@mara.cognet.ucla.edu> Sender: news@midway.uchicago.edu (News Administrator) Organization: University of Chicago Lines: 28 iwelch@agsm.ucla.edu (Ivo Welch) writes: >Is there a random-access way to access either DAT or 8mm drives as a big >floppy? Occasionally, I would like to store large databases (800MB) consisting >of many individual files that would mainly be accessed sequentially. I don't >care very much for the Unix dump/restore handling in the first place. Copying >a few files directly to another disk device would make things much simpler. It's possible to do something like this. If you use the dd command and treat the tape drive like a 9-track tape, you might be able to do something that you want to get out of it. >What are currently the cheapest sources and quickest availability for >academics of the new fast-access 8mm and DAT drives? Can I hook one of these >up to any SCSI interface, and plug and go, or do I have to know stuff about >hardware and interface software below dump/restore? You'll have to go through channels to get them, Exabyte is the only manufacturer of 8mm tape drives. I hear from the Novell mailing list that Mountain and Maynard are the DAT drives of choice. whether you can plug them onto your SCSI bus and go depends on how the kernal handles tape drives and whether it can handle something that large (for sparcstations, you need either a patched SunOS 4.0.3 or use SunOS 4.1.1 for the tape drive to work, plus make sure the SCSI address on the drive is ok. SunOS kernals usually are set up for 4 hard drives and 2 tape drives). Bob Bob Kusumoto | Find the electric messiah! Internet: kusumoto@chsun1.uchicago.edu | The AC/DC God! Bitnet: kusumoto@chsun1.uchicago.bitnet | - My Life with the Thrill Kill UUCP: ...!{oddjob,gargoyle}!chsun1!kusumoto | Kult, "Kooler than Jesus"