[Tom Goldberg]

Hi Nick, I believe you should be able to swap out your drive without problems if you are still running Cache-A (not necessarily ProMax) versions, Dean’s situation notwithstanding. It warms my heart to know that there are folks out in the world still using our products, although I wonder if it is time for you to move on to more modern solutions.

[Tom Goldberg]

Check the user manual about the File Manager around pg55.

You can restore to direct attached storage or network attached with the Source View menu

You can download the v3.3 manual here

Tom Goldberg
TGCS
30201 Rainbow Hill Rd.
Evergreen, CO 80439
mailto:tomgoldberg@gmail.com
https://tomgoldberg.net

[Tom Goldberg]

Jim,

Bru makes a very fine product, but I do not buy the arguments they make in the article you site

With respect to the argument that Bru has more data protection than LTFS, this is undoubtedly true but really unnecessary with the accuracy and data correction in LTO tape and drives, inherently an order or two of magnitude better than hard disk drives. It is possible that LFTS might screw up more than a stable Bru configuration, but if you verify your archive upon completion this is a non issue.

With respect to the argument that that Bru’s ongoing support and escrowed software makes it as safe as a broadly used standard like LTFS, well your experience here might be evidence this could be wrong. I don’t know if you can run LTFS packages on your new Mac Pro yet, but its a good bet that the market will cause open source solutions to get there quickly whereas it may take Bru more time.

Tom Goldberg
TGCS
30201 Rainbow Hill Rd.
Evergreen, CO 80439
mailto:tomgoldberg@gmail.com
https://tomgoldberg.net

[Tom Goldberg]

It is possible that ProMax changed the licensing code in later versions, but in Cache-A’s day (up to v3.4.x) the tape drive serial number was not used for that.

Good luck.

Tom Goldberg
TGCS
30201 Rainbow Hill Rd.
Evergreen, CO 80439
mailto:tomgoldberg@gmail.com
https://tomgoldberg.net

[Tom Goldberg]

Hi Dean,

You should have no problem swapping out the tape drive. We used an HP LTO-5 OEM tape mechanism model AQ280A, equivalent to their Ultrium 3000 Half Height SAS Internal Tape Drive.

The only problems you might encounter would be from not ensuring that all connectors and boards are reseated properly. You should also carefully retain and reapply the kapton tape securing the SAS connector to the drive.

Good luck,
Tom

Tom Goldberg
TGCS
30201 Rainbow Hill Rd.
Evergreen, CO 80439
mailto:tomgoldberg@gmail.com
https://tomgoldberg.net

[Tom Goldberg]

Ryan,

You have a classic Cache-A database problem…
Here are the instructions for a Cache-A [TEP STOP] fix:

Log into your Cache-A from a terminal – click this to download instructions if you don’t know how to do that.

Then issue the following commands in order exactly as below:


/etc/init.d/tapemgr stop
/etc/init.d/httpd stop
/etc/init.d/mysqld stop

myisamchk -rofm /media/catalog/database/mysql/catalog/*.MYI

/etc/init.d/mysqld start
/etc/init.d/httpd start
/etc/init.d/tapemgr start

restart your Cache-A

Tom Goldberg
TGCS
30201 Rainbow Hill Rd.
Evergreen, CO 80439
mailto:tomgoldberg@gmail.com
https://tomgoldberg.net

[Tom Goldberg]

OK, I just have to jump in here and argue with the statements made about Cache-A.

Promax may no longer support Cache-A products, but they can still read and write Cache-A tapes and catalogs with their current products.

And statements about not being able to read Cache-A tapes are just plain false. They are all written either in LTFS or open source tar (at the user’s discretion), documentation is available as posted elsewhere on this forum. Nothing was ever written in a proprietary format and no special drivers are needed.

As to the thread topic, while the economics and speed arguments over the value of using LTO may be valid, the fearmongering that you won’t be able to buy drives is also patently false. You can still buy every generation LTO drive ever built on ebay – hell, you can even buy floppy disk drives – check yourself!

Tom Goldberg
TGCS
30201 Rainbow Hill Rd.
Evergreen, CO 80439
mailto:tomgoldberg@gmail.com
https://tomgoldberg.net

[Tom Goldberg]

Bob is right, pony up for Carbon Copy.

For simple jobs I do use a shareware app called SyncTwoFolders with good results however:
https://throb.pagesperso-orange.fr/site/ind_JS.html?Prg_S.html&Prg_ApplisRB.html#SyncTwoFolders

Tom Goldberg
TGCS
30201 Rainbow Hill Rd.
Evergreen, CO 80439
mailto:tomgoldberg@gmail.com
https://tomgoldberg.net

[Tom Goldberg]

Very Cool Martin, let us all know how that goes.

Tom Goldberg
TGCS
30201 Rainbow Hill Rd.
Evergreen, CO 80439
mailto:tomgoldberg@gmail.com
https://tomgoldberg.net

[Tom Goldberg]

Hi Ed,

Unfortunately, the catalog backup .tgz file is no use without a Cache-A. The database contents are in there but hashed and must be loaded back into a working unit. If your Pro-Cache will boot from the recovery stick, it would be possible to use it to restore this data. If you want to pursue this, please contact me directly off forum.

Tom Goldberg
TGCS
30201 Rainbow Hill Rd.
Evergreen, CO 80439
mailto:tomgoldberg@gmail.com
https://tomgoldberg.net