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LTO Autoloaders and archiving software
I’m keen to hear from anyone with experience using LTO Autoloaders and archiving software.
I used BRU and an LTO-6 standalone in my last job but looking for some info on user experience with the various solutions out there.
What are you using? What issues have you had (if any) and what do you like about it?
James
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4 Replies
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If you are looking at getting new hardware, then the extra cost of a library over a standalone drive is not that much. Standalone drives are obviously more portable, but the library wins otherwise. With two drives you can automate archiving large amounts of data spanned across two sets of tapes. With a single drive you can do the same thing sequentially. Also performing other tasks like a partial restore of selected files from a number of tapes is much easier.
How much data do you need to archive and how much time do you have before more data arrives?
This will help gauge the best system for your needs.Software like our YoYottaID Automation will control the library, create and restore industry standard LTFS archives that can also be used for interchange. Our Conform option allows automated restore and trimming of clips from the tapes in the library using FCPXML, ALE, EDL or AAF editorial timelines.
Martin Greenwood
CTO
YoYotta
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Hi Martin
Thanks for the reply – I’m looking at about 160 TB annually. It’s pretty clear to me that with this amount of data a library is required otherwise we would be forever feeding tapes in and out.
The workflow would be to backup all rushes to LTO as soon as they are ingested. Then at the end of projects we consolidate and delete all unused rushes from our live storage, keeping only the media used in the final timeline(s) online. Then 3 months later the consolidated project would also be archived.
Project restore is random and infrequent so we’re probably going to take tapes out of the library as soon as they are written.
I guess I’m looking for some info on other users real-world experience.
Are there any recommended suppliers in the UK that can supply the hardware and software and provide support?
James
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James,
If you’re looking to use LTFS with a library on a MAC, then YoYotta is the way to go. I’m pretty sure Martin, who just answered your questions, sells Quantum hardware, and he’s obviously going to sell and support the YoYotta software. Plus he’s located in the UK. So I think you found your match there.
Tim Gerhard
Magnext
614-433-0011 x114
tgerhard@magnext.com -
I’m currently considering two options for hardware:
Quantum i3 and the IBM TS3100 with either dual LTO-6 or dual LTO-7 drives.
Software I am looking at Archiware and YoYotta. They both look good but Archiware also provides Backup (rather than Archive) which is appealing because I could do nightly backups of projects on one drive and keep the other for Archiving and Restore.
Has anyone used either the Quantum or the IBM units?
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