Computers & Electronics

Anyway to rent an LTO5 drive?

  • Last Updated:
  • Nov 15th, 2012 11:48 pm
Newbie
Oct 15, 2006
32 posts

Anyway to rent an LTO5 drive?

I have about 15 TB of data I need to back up. Is there anywhere around Toronto to rent an LTO5 drive so I can make tapes, or better yet somewhere I can bring HDDs to have them put unto tapes, because I understand LTO drives need a special card to interface?

Thanks in advance.
13 replies
Deal Addict
Jun 8, 2005
3160 posts
639 upvotes
Toronto
AlexCCCP wrote: I have about 15 TB of data I need to back up. Is there anywhere around Toronto to rent an LTO5 drive so I can make tapes, or better yet somewhere I can bring HDDs to have them put unto tapes, because I understand LTO drives need a special card to interface?

Thanks in advance.
Wouldn't you want to buy the tape drive? In case I don't know, you ever actually need to restore from backup? Or possibly test your backups to see if you can even restore them?
Banned
User avatar
Feb 15, 2008
26318 posts
3242 upvotes
Calgary
LTO drives generally need SAS. Each LTO tape is good for 1.5Tb and cost $70-$80. Why not just buy 3Tb hard drives @ $140-$150 or so, and forget about the special LTO drive?
TodayHello wrote: ...The Banks are smarter than you - they have floors full of people whose job it is to read Mark77 posts...
Deal Addict
Jul 16, 2005
1438 posts
619 upvotes
Start deleting data. Do you really need to archive what you have?

I wasted so much time and space in the past saving things that I might want to watch again but never did. It just wasn't worth it. Many others feel the same way.

Only save what you can't easily replace.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Feb 10, 2007
13940 posts
5437 upvotes
just burn it on 3 sets of dvds and put in different location

used tape drives at work and its really cumbersome for just basic backups
The sweetest gyal
Banned
User avatar
Feb 15, 2008
26318 posts
3242 upvotes
Calgary
sexyj wrote: just burn it on 3 sets of dvds and put in different location

used tape drives at work and its really cumbersome for just basic backups
15Tb on DVDs? :lol: :lol: :lol:
TodayHello wrote: ...The Banks are smarter than you - they have floors full of people whose job it is to read Mark77 posts...
Deal Addict
User avatar
Dec 22, 2006
2865 posts
296 upvotes
Toronto
15000gb / 4.38gb = ~3425 DVD's @ ~5 mins each = 11 days, 21 hours, 25 minutes. :)

At least we know it's possible. Just hire a high school kid for a month.
Deal Fanatic
Jan 17, 2003
8993 posts
1532 upvotes
This is what my company does, unfortunately we're located in the US.
You can get a lto 5 drive in fibre channel or SAS.
They are fairly expensive and even though it supports LTFS, it's not a reliable way to retrieve data. The cost for a lto5 tape is now in the low 30's. You would need about 3 tapes to achieve your desired requirements, uncompressed. But the initial cost of lto5 is fairly expensive as stated.

I would consider something along the lines of a NAS or external RDX technology. We are promoting Imation 27853-1500gb drive which contains two 750gb carts. You can add also add more carts in the future.

I personally use windows server, which than backs up to a Imation A8 unit, which acts as jbod or tape library mode.

Or just buy 3 external hard drives, it's the cheapest solution.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Feb 10, 2007
13940 posts
5437 upvotes
haha somehow I read 1.5 tb

like the guy above said, probably cheapest is to buy external drives
The sweetest gyal
Newbie
Oct 15, 2006
32 posts
3TB HDs are about $150 right now... on sale, say $130 but plus tax X 5 = $650+tax.

I can get tapes quite cheap, but clearly it's crazy for me to buy a $2k drive for this. Anyone else has ideas for archiving hehe?
Deal Fanatic
Jan 17, 2003
8993 posts
1532 upvotes
The least inexpensive solution for massive amounts of data is tape. But yes, your initial investment would negate that. But if you have already achieved 5tb's and still going strong, maybe it's in your best interest to make that investment.

I like tape, and that's the biggest part of my business. But unfortunately you cannot rewrite without comprimising the data. It's a write once and archive, only to restore if necessary.

Also, I don't know what type of data you are archiving. But with good compression software, you would only need 1 4tb or 2 3tb external drives.
Newbie
Oct 15, 2006
32 posts
Yeah... as I mentioned I already have 15tb, and my data is raw un-encoded video, can't compress :-(

Im only interested in archiving, rewrite is not needed, tape does sound ideal, but there's no way I can justify purchasing a drive. Ah well, thanks for your input all.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Jul 26, 2006
7742 posts
399 upvotes
Scarborough
ignore me.
wasn't thinking right numbers. haha
Deal Expert
User avatar
Jul 22, 2006
22438 posts
3065 upvotes
AlexCCCP wrote: Yeah... as I mentioned I already have 15tb, and my data is raw un-encoded video, can't compress :-(

Im only interested in archiving, rewrite is not needed, tape does sound ideal, but there's no way I can justify purchasing a drive. Ah well, thanks for your input all.
Maybe you can invest in some WD RE drives?

It'll set you back ~$2000 for 16TB though. (4TB is about $400+tax * 4)

Top

Thread Information

There is currently 1 user viewing this thread. (0 members and 1 guest)