-
VXA-320
Since I’ve had some trouble archiving p2 footage recently, I’ve been looking for some alternative methods. I’ve noticed that the new VXA-320 from Exabyte/Tandberg has been mentioned a few times on this forum and wondered what sorts of experiences people were having using them.
Has there been any consistent problems in archiving/retrieving?
I would rather use the Firewire linked one rather than the SCSI model if only for convenience – any reason to think otherwise?
How is Tandberg’s reputation for customer service?Finally, is there an internet seller/reseller for Tandberg devices that anyone can recommend?
Thanks!
-
3 Replies
-
I got mine right around Christmas and I love it. I found it under $1k from these guys
https://www.nextwarehouse.com/item/?568696
They were in stock and I got it a couple of days later. One thing about video archiving is you can not use the compression feature since video is already compressed. So if you buy a tape that is 160/320 you will get 154 from it.
The great thing is it comes with Retrospect and after you back up all your footage you can restore anywhere from 1 file to the whole tape. You do not need to restore the entire tape to get a file or 2 off of it.
I first was using a USB 2 drive as my P2 dumping ground. When I reached the 154 gigs I would write a tape. USB 2 is slower them firewire or SATA. I was getting around 450 megs per minute. I created an internal 154 meg partition and now I see write speeds of 700 megs per minute.
So to write and verify a 160 gig tape will take you 8 to 10 hours, but you do it when you go to bed and it is done when you get up.
Each tape is designed to be played back 500 times and you can freeze the tapes, leave them in a cup of hot coffee and they will be fine.
So I love it! I am no longer one of those poor suckers spending endless hours burning 4.2 gig DVD-R waiting for Blue ray thinking that is the future. VXA-320 is a no brainier for P2 archiving.
-Lars
-
Lars,
This is great stuff… What media are you using.. I search that site and nothing popped out at me.. How much per gig?
-
The tapes that I use are Exabyte x23 tapes. They come in x23,x10 and x6. For P2 footage means 160 gig,86 gig and 40 gig. I have no idea why it is 86 and not 80 gig.
You should be able to find the x23 tapes for $55-$65. That might sound like a lot for 160 gigs of back up but if think about how long it would take you back up 160 gigs to 4.2 gig dvd-r the answer is clear. Also if you fill up a 16 gig P2 card good luck fitting that on a disc.
If your hard drives are filling up with P2 footage this is a great answer for P2 storage.
-Lars
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up