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From: page@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu (Bob Page)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards,comp.periphs
Subject: Re: magtape , and what's hot
Message-ID: <1256@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu>
Date: Wed, 6-May-87 15:23:53 EDT
Article-I.D.: ulowell.1256
Posted: Wed May  6 15:23:53 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 9-May-87 01:15:48 EDT
References: <878@wjvax.wjvax.UUCP> <106600011@datacube>
Reply-To: page@ulowell.cs.ulowell.edu (Bob Page)
Followup-To: comp.periphs
Organization: University of Lowell
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Xref: mnetor comp.unix.wizards:2184 comp.periphs:359

berger@datacube.UUCP (Bob Berger) wrote:
>Has anyone had experience with using WORM Optical Disks as a backup medium?
>As we approach 2 Gig on our network, even 6250bpi tape becomes a drag....

I recently got a brochure from a company that sells a WORM drive for about
US$22K (list, if I remember right).  Nice price, and they hold 2GB per
disk.  However, they are twice as slow as a DEC TU-81 (which is pretty
slow to begin with), and the platters cost US$500 list, as compared to
a dozen 2400' reels, which'll run you about US$240 list (assuming US$20/reel,
Universities don't know always know the real cost of things :-) )  Also,
you gotta buy the drive and driver, then pay a yearly maint fee for both.
This is in addition to whatever tape drive you are currently using.
You're not going to get rid of that, I assume.

Advantages worth considering are:
1.  Small backups (less than 2GB) can be done w/o operator intervention.
    If you have cheap operators, this probably isn't a concern.
2.  Less space required for storage.  If you're paying through the nose
    for floor space, converting to WORMs -might- save you money.  You'd
    have to have a heckuva lotta tape cabinets, though, to see any benefit.
    Gotta buy cabinets to hold the WORM disks, too.
3.  WORM's are random access - you can leave one on-line during the day
    for users/projects to read from.  Nice for projects that have
    multiple versions lying around.

The system that I saw only ran under VAX/VMS.  I haven't seen anything
for non-VAX, or even UNIX, at a reasonable price, yet.

Followups to comp.periphs.

..Bob
-- 
Bob Page, U of Lowell CS Dept.   page@ulowell.{uucpptheor\r\r