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CAT DV + LTO 5 Drives
Hi folks
I’m researching an archive solution for our company at the moment and I’ve decided that LTO tape is 100% the way to go. I’ve opted for LTO 5 and I’m looking at purchasing a HP Ultrium 3000 drive with BRU PE software.
I’m also looking at various media asset management software solutions and I’m really impressed with CAT DV.
I’m wondering how CAT DV would integrate with our LTO 5 tape archive system?
LTO 5 has a new addition over previous versions – Long Term File System (LTFS), a self describing tape file system that enables tape media to be mounted and read by the operating system when the cartridge is inserted into the tape drive. The goal is to try to make interacting with a tape drive as simple as interacting with a USB stick or external hard disk.
Ideally what I’d like to do is when it comes to archive a completed project onto LTO tape, create a catalogue with proxies in CAT DV prior to copying to LTO. This way we can easily preview the content of every LTO tape we will have in our library.
Can anyone let me know if this is possible in CAT DV?
Many thanks.
Best wishes
Scott
Midas Media
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10 Replies
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Scott, you can absolutely do that. Drag the selected files that are going to the LTO into CatDV, then use a field to enter the archive name.
If you have Server, you can actually search across all your archives. If you only have a standalone copy, then you’ll likely need to have one catalog per archive since standalone only searches within one catalog.
The slick way to do this is to use the Cache-A LTO device.
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/278/245
Check that post. CatDV actually moves the files to the LTO and auto tracks when where they went.
Don’t buy a drive until you see that.
bryson
bryson “at” hidefcowboy.com
hidefcowboy.com
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Hi Bryson
Many thanks for your post, I really appreciated your feedback on this as I’m new to LTO and I’m still finding my feet!
I’m now completely sold on CAT DV, however I’m still trying to make a decision on whether to spend the extra money on the Cache-A LTO 5 option or attempt to pull together my own system with a HP Ultrium 3000 + BRU PE software. The Cache-A unit is nearly $8000 more than the self build option. Can you give me some help here? Is the Cache-A unit really going to be worth an extra $8K?
Many thanks.
Best wishes
Scott
Midas Media
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Man, the LTO5 cache-A is $10,995 list, but a good dealer can help you a bit on that.
If you can go LTO-4, the prime cache is a cool deal for under $7k and you don’t have to use a computer to run it.
That’s pretty hard to beat. Are you seriously getting an LTO-5 and card and BRU for under $3k? That’s a pretty good deal.
My vote, just having seen folks suffer with archive software, is the smaller cache-a, multiple machines can back up with no training. Literally, “put it on the vtape” and it’s backed up and then you can scan it later, if you like. I like the idea that no one has to call me on my day off to do a backup lol… but the BRU will give you job security. 😉
bryson
bryson “at” hidefcowboy.com
hidefcowboy.com
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One other thought…
tar – BRU requires BRU to restore. tar, which cache-a uses, is open source.
Maybe not a big deal if you just keep your archives, but a lot of networks and studios ask for tar. Check your client delivery specs before you decide as well.
I know I sound like a Cache-A wh%$e but it’s pretty nice to use. And who knows what we will be able to do once the API comes out and we can actually tie into the database. As it is now, searching all your archives with a web interface (built into the cache-a) is pretty compelling.
bryson
bryson “at” hidefcowboy.com
hidefcowboy.com
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Hi Bryson
I’m in the UK so I’m trying to guess the approximate exchange rates. The best price I’ve been offered on the Pro Cache LTO 5 is $10900 in the UK. I can buy a HP Ultrium 3000 + SAS Card + BRU PE for $5100 so we’re talking about half the cost.
To give you a better idea of our position, we’re a small TV production company and all I require is a safe way to archive our completed projects for off site storage – nothing complicated and we don’t envisage sending LTO tapes to third parties.
I’ll be the only one backing up so I don’t need to worry about non techies scratching their heads trying to figure out what’s going on. LTO 5 is my preferred option because our project files tend to be large and the extra capacity and speed of LTO 5 will make life a lot easier.
Don’t get me wrong, I really like the Cache-A unit, it’s just that there are LOT’s of things I could spend the extra $5800 on :o) Can’t see anything on their web site showing a LTO 5 Prime Cache unit yet?
Am I really going to regret going for my self built option or will it do the job for now?
Arrrggghhh….decisions decisions!!
Best wishes
Scott
Midas Media
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Hi Bryson
I’m in the UK so I’m trying to guess the approximate exchange rates. The best price I’ve been offered on the Pro Cache LTO 5 is $10900 in the UK. I can buy a HP Ultrium 3000 + SAS Card + BRU PE for $5100 so we’re talking about half the cost.
To give you a better idea of our position, we’re a small TV production company and all I require is a safe way to archive our completed projects for off site storage – nothing complicated and we don’t envisage sending LTO tapes to third parties.
I’ll be the only one backing up so I don’t need to worry about non techies scratching their heads trying to figure out what’s going on. LTO 5 is my preferred option because our project files tend to be large and the extra capacity and speed of LTO 5 will make life a lot easier.
Don’t get me wrong, I really like the Cache-A unit, it’s just that there are LOT’s of things I could spend the extra $5800 on :o) Can’t see anything on their web site showing a LTO 5 Prime Cache unit yet?
Am I really going to regret going for my self built option or will it do the job for now?
Arrrggghhh….decisions decisions!!
Best wishes
Scott
Midas Media
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No LTO-5 Prime Cache yet, and you seem to have a good handle on the limitations of your solution. I’m betting it’ll work fine.
There’s a great white paper on the cache-a site that lays out some of this stuff as well.
Man, in the end, if you buy the self built and work it out, you can always sell it and upgrade. I just wanted to point out some of the differences on here.
Note to the LA guys out there. I will soon have a Prime Cache LTO-4 for rental here in town. (hell, I guess if we have a credit card deposit, we can ship it too.)
bryson
bryson “at” hidefcowboy.com
hidefcowboy.com
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Hi Bryson
Thanks for your input on this…I think we’re going to try the self assembly route first and as you say if we find it isn’t working for us we can always sell and buy the Cache-A solution.
Will let you know how we get on :o)
Best wishes
Scott
Midas Media
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Hi Scott,
How was your experience with the BRU solution?
I’m considering it as well.
Thanks.
-Jeff
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Me too. I would like to know how it is working for you.
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