Fund@RELAY.PROTEON.COM (01/18/90)
>Greetings all- >If I was to go out and buy a backup system for 1 Gigabyte or more of data, >would the yet-to-be-released DAT system offer more 'data reliability' >than the current VAST device? (both by emerald). In other words, >should I wait 3 months for the DAT to come it? I realize it is less data >on a cartridge (1.2 Gb instead of 2.2Gb), I'm more interested in longevity >and reliability over storage capacity. All comments are welcome, and >thanks again for making this list tops! >George Saba That is an oxymoron is I ever heard one... Emerald and reliability. Emerald has a long way to go to restore its "release of the weeK" reputation. For my money, I would go with Maynand or Palindrome. The one good thing about the Emerald system is that you can by a Palindrome conversion kit (about $1000) and make the tape drive work correctly. Of course, it is your money... so you get to make the big decision. I guess it comes down to the question... Do you want to sleep comfortably at night? These are my opinions based on personal experience and a lot of input from our users group members. Glenn Fund Internet: Fund@Relay.proteon.com Principal Research Specialist CompuServe: 75170,1060 Sanders Associates cc:Mail Fund at Proteonwebo DW Highway South Phone: (603) 885-6242 MS NHQ4-0138 Director of The Greater Boston Area Nashua, NH 03061 Novell Users Group. Co-Founder and President of the Affiliation of NetWare Users "ANU Day Is Dawning"
BCNSTAT@NAS.BITNET (Bob Caine) (01/18/90)
I have been waiting for someone to comment on the Emerald Systems VAST device. I would like to have heard better things from Glenn, since his opinion is generally well supported. I have one of the Emerald VAST devices (and plan on getting 15+ more) and have not had any problems with the hardware. The Emerald software is somewhat suspect, and I have found several items that I have brought to their attention. Their product for running the VAST from the file server as a VAP (EMQ) is to be avoided. It is slow and does not operate consistently from computer to computer. It works on one AT, a model 70, but not on the other AT. And the throughput is a dismal 1.5 MB/Min on a 4 Mhz Token Ring (I am awaiting AT type 16 Mhz adapters and NE2000 adapters to set up a faster backbone). The workstation backup software EMSAVE works well and much more reliably (all workstations can do the backup). Having just completed a network backup of changed files, here are some stats: 808 files archived 118,689,831 Megs 39:51 minutes 2.9 Mb/Min This is still not blazing speed, but it can fulfill my backup requirements. I do hope that the faster backbone will raise this to about 5 Mb/Min (I know of a backbone Ethernet that has attained this speed). I looked at the Palindrome software, which works with the Emerald VAST, but was not impressed. I like the Emerald software for it's Windows, easy to use I/F, automatic retrying of open files, unattended operations mode and transaction logging function. So far I have found that the EMSAVE can support my backup policy and procedures. If I come up with any problems, I will let the list know. Bob Caine National Academy of Sciences P.S. I also looked at the Mountain VAST device but was not impressed with their Quality Tape software. >If I was to go out and buy a backup system for 1 Gigabyte or more of data, >would the yet-to-be-released DAT system offer more 'data reliability' >than the current VAST device? (both by emerald). In other words, >should I wait 3 months for the DAT to come it? I realize it is less data >on a cartridge (1.2 Gb instead of 2.2Gb), I'm more interested in longevity >and reliability over storage capacity. All comments are welcome, and >thanks again for making this list tops! >George Saba That is an oxymoron is I ever heard one... Emerald and reliability. Emerald has a long way to go to restore its "release of the weeK" reputation. For my money, I would go with Maynand or Palindrome. The one good thing about the Emerald system is that you can by a Palindrome conversion kit (about $1000) and make the tape drive work correctly. Of course, it is your money... so you get to make the big decision. I guess it comes down to the question... Do you want to sleep comfortably at night? These are my opinions based on personal experience and a lot of input from our users group members. Glenn Fund Internet: Fund@Relay.proteon.com Principal Research Specialist CompuServe: 75170,1060 Sanders Associates cc:Mail Fund at Proteonwebo DW Highway South Phone: (603) 885-6242 MS NHQ4-0138 Director of The Greater Boston Area Nashua, NH 03061 Novell Users Group. Co-Founder and President of the Affiliation of NetWare Users "ANU Day Is Dawning"
ACTJH@UCLAAIS.BITNET (Timothy Hart) (01/19/90)
Hi: We are currently using the VAST system on our 4Mb Token Ring Network. I have been working with this product for about a year now and have been through many revs of the EMQ software (currently 1.5L). We did have alot of trouble with the product when it was first introduced. I strongly concur with other users that they (Emerald)are very guilty of great looking demos at shows but get it in house and all hell breaks loose. I was tired of dealing with the tech support folks who knew less than I did about the product so via a conversation with the president of the company I escalated myself to being able to talk directly to the engineers. While they were very helpful it took some time to get a version that was stable on token ring. Initially, I ran the product from each workstation on the network but the latest versions are much improved and I have installed the software on the server (PS/2 model 80). Because of MS Windows use of overlays the system does drag somewhat so a fast box and hard drive definitely help...i.e. the speed of backup is very machine dependent. Using a PS/2 Model 70 and crossing a bridge (running source routing drivers) I am able to attain 3.5 MB per minute rates. My experience with AT style systems is a 1.5 - 2.0 MB rate. I recently did a backup from a PS/2 70 on a 16 MB Token ring and saw rates approaching 4.5 MB per minute. We have never had a catastrophic failure of a network drive so I can only talk about restores of directories and some Novell files. In general the restoration procedure is quite slow. Heaven help you if the file is at the end of your 2.2 Gigabyte tape. But we have not had a file restore fail yet. It is one of those procedures that you launch and then head out to lunch. I have seen demos of there new 1.2 Gig. system at a recent meeting here in Los Angeles. While I was impressed with the rapid restore of files I would be very wary of buying this product early on unless you would like to become part of Emerald's engineering group and not get paid for it. Having said that...I am trying to get on the EMsave beta test. This software will track every file backed up and facilitate the restore procedure by prompting you for the tape it is stored on. The current software requires the user to note the tape they backed their files up on. As your library of backed up data grows so does your headache if the user cannot remember the tape they stored it on. The reason that I will probably look at the EMsave product is because it is based on the EMQ software which I feel has stabilized. Overall, the VAST has been a tough nut to crack. We have had group in the Medical Center replace 3 VAST units and then return the unit to try out the Maynard system. They did not like that either so they are back with the VAST running EMsave and backing up their server to the tape unit attached to a workstation. I may have missed some details here so if you have any specific questions just send me a message. Timothy Hart Systems Analyst Administrative Information Systems UCLA Los Angeles