mike@lll-lcc.aRpA (Mike Hummell) (03/19/88)
I would like to investigate available VCR-Backup products for
IBM PC AT. Does anyone know of a list of these, a reference, or
etc. ?
I know of one I read of in E.E.Times Aug. 1987:
Emerald Systems Corp. has VAST (Virtual Archival Storage Technology
which offers a 2.2 Gigabyte capacity. I called them at (619)270-1994
in San Diego for info: the capacities of their systems range from 60 Mbyte
to 2.2 Gigabytes.
Regards, Mike Hummell
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"Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" -- Vegetius
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ARPA: mike@lll-lcc.llnl.gov (mike@lll-lcc.arpa)
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Phone: (415) 422-3922
--------------------------------------------------------------------------mike@lll-lcc.aRpA (Mike Hummell) (03/25/88)
In article <1567@lll-lcc.aRpA>, mike@lll-lcc.aRpA (Mike Hummell) writes: > I would like to investigate available VCR-Backup products for > IBM PC AT. Does anyone know of a list of these, a reference, or > etc. ? > I know of one I read of in E.E.Times Aug. 1987: > Emerald Systems Corp. has VAST (Virtual Archival Storage Technology > which offers a 2.2 Gigabyte capacity. I called them at (619)270-1994 > in San Diego for info: the capacities of their systems range from 60 Mbyte > to 2.2 Gigabytes. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" -- Vegetius > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ARPA: mike@lll-lcc.llnl.gov (mike@lll-lcc.arpa) > UUCP: { ihnp4,sun,lll-crg,rutgers }!lll-lcc!mike > U.S. MAIL: LLNL ; P.O. Box 808 , L-363 ; Livermore, CA. 94550 > Phone: (415) 422-3922 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following are the responses to the above query. THANKYOU to all who responded. (I replied to all responses but our MAILER kicked most of them back). Appreciatively, ... MIKE HUMMELL ****************************************************************************** RESPONSES ****************************************************************************** From davy@intrepid.ecn.purdue.edu Sat Mar 19 08:49:04 1988 From: davy@intrepid.ecn.purdue.edu (Dave Curry) To: mike@lll-lcc.llnl.gov Subject: VCR backup systems Date: Sat, 19 Mar 88 11:31:11 EST I know of three: 1. Honeywell. 5.2GB (soon to be 10GB) on a VHS tape. Handles 4 MBytes/sec transfer rate. Interfaces for VAX SBI, Unibus, etc. Not cheap, ~$35,000. 2. Digidata. 2.3GB on a VHS tape. Transfer rate is around 250 Kbytes/sec. Has a SCSI interface, speaks standard Pertec tape drive protocol. I think the price is around $6,000. 3. Exabyte. 2.3GB on a 8mm tape. SCSI interface. Transfer rate around 250 Kbytes/sec. This box is being remarketed by several companies including Perfectbyte and Systems Industries. Any 8mm drive you see that does 2.3GB is actually this drive; it's patented. Cost is something like $3000-4000. I keep pretty close watch for these; these are the only three I've seen. George Goble of Purdue is evaluating the Exabyte and has done much work with them on it. You can reach him as ghg@ee.ecn.purdue.edu if you want more info. From lll-winken!uunet!vsi!friedl Sat Mar 19 21:09:42 1988 Date: Sat, 19 Mar 88 23:12:09 EST Subject: Re: VCR Backup systems - seeking list of (I know 1) Alpha Micro has been making these for years. I have never used one but a friend who knows about them says they are very reliable. I think they make one for the AT but you would have to call them to find out. Alpha Micro Box 25059 Santa Ana, CA 92704 (714) 957-8500 Regards, Steve --- Steve Friedl friedl@vsi.com or {uunet,attmail,ihnp4!amdcad!uport}!vsi!friedl From bigtex!james@astro.as.utexas.edu Sun Mar 20 09:33:44 1988 To: mike@lll-lcc.llnl.gov Subject: Re: VCR Backup systems - seeking list of (I know 1) Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.periphs,comp.sys.ibm.pc Organization: F.B.N. Software, Austin TX Date: 20 Mar 88 11:21:17 CST (Sun) From: bigtex!james@astro.as.utexas.edu (James Van Artsdalen) Look into Alpha Micro. They've been doing it for at least five years if not longer - since before the PC came out anyway. They started with their own computer and later added hardware for the PC. --- James R. Van Artsdalen ...!uunet!utastro!bigtex!james "Live Free or Die" Home: 512-346-2444 Work: 328-0282; 110 Wild Basin Rd. Ste #230, Austin TX 78746 From tim@ducat.caltech.edu Sun Mar 20 21:27:36 1988 Date: Sun, 20 Mar 88 21:27:31 pst From: tim@ducat.caltech.edu (Tim Kay) To: mike@lll-lcc.llnl.gov Subject: Re: VCR Backup systems - seeking list of (I know 1) Organization: California Institute of Technology Alpha Micro has a card that plugs into your PC bus and an off the shelf VCR. It can backup about 300 megabytes. Tim From @cypress.sgi.CS.NET:johnm@sgi.com Mon Mar 21 18:51:59 1988 Date: Mon, 21 Mar 88 11:06:19 PST From: Foosball Addict <johnm@sgi.com> Subject: Re: VCR Backup systems - seeking list of (I know 1) Try: Exabyte Corp. David M. Perry District Sales Manager 51 East Campbell Ave. Suite 100G Campbell, Ca. 95008 Phone: (408) 370-6107 FAX: (713) 781-7560 It's a helical scan system that uses 8mm tape and stores up to 2.3 Gb. John From bellcore!bpa!vu-vlsi!devon!chessene!hermit@rutgers.edu Tue Mar 22 Date: Mon, 21 Mar 88 15:26:32 EST From: bellcore!bpa!vu-vlsi!devon!chessene!hermit@rutgers.edu Subject: VCR tape backups Hello... I happen to have the October 1986 issue of Byte next to me, and they reviewed something called Videotrax, a VCR tape backup for the PC; whether it works on an AT I don't know, but this was over a year ago, so who knows... The capacity stated is 20 Megs, the price stated is $595 for controller board and software, $1395 for complete system (including VCR). As I said, it's a year old, maybe they've got something better now, and an AT version... Alpha Microsystems 3501 Sunflower Ave. Santa Ana, CA 92704 (714) 957-8500 -- Mark Buda, The Embattled Hermit Domain: hermit@chessene.uucp Dumb: ...{rutger,ihnp4,cbosgd}!bpa!vu-vlsi!devon!chessene!hermit "Dr. Johnson, can you come over right away? My father has a hibachi on his head." From map@maserati.siemens.com Wed Mar 23 05:49:55 1988 Date: Wed, 23 Mar 88 08:47:50 EST From: map@maserati.siemens.com (Michael Platoff) Subject: VCR Backup systems - seeking list of (I know 1) Perfect Byte, Inc. sells a VCR backup system that we use on a Sun 3/50 SCSI bus. The current driver only allows one file per tape, but they are supposedly still working on the driver. This device is 2GB, but it doesn't do you much good unless you can write multiple files to the tape. Their address: Perfect Byte, Inc. 7121 Cass St. Omaha, NE 68132 402-554-1122 Michael Platoff Siemens Research and Technology Labs 105 College Road East Princeton, NJ 08540-6668 (609) 734-3354 EMAIL: map@cadillac.siemens.com {allegra,princeton}!siemens!cadillac.siemens.com!map
kaufman@polya.STANFORD.EDU (Marc T. Kaufman) (03/25/88)
On a similar note, what data formats are being used to archive files? Tar, cpio, or something special? I am writing a driver for the Macintosh, and would like to be able to exchange files with other systems. Marc Kaufman (kaufman@polya.stanford.edu)