So I work for a small business (about 75 employees) and we have a server and a Dell Powervault 122T tape automated backup (1 drive, 8 slots, system loads and unloads tapes automatically so we keep a 8 day backup without having to think about it), and I went to check on the system the other day and was greeted with an A5 error.
According to Dell the fan is bad, but the fan is running fine, so could be something like a sensor or something, the room was slightly hot, but nothing serious. The drive is out of warranty, and Dell won't extend the warranty on the drive (Funny story if I called warranty extension before I called support they would of allowed me to renew the warranty (for $600 and get a replacement drive sent out, but that's a story for another "Dell Sux" blog), they want $2800 to send the parts so I can fix the drive myself, so we are fishing around for alternatives.
Dell sells new drives with similar features for around $3000 with warranty, but probably another $500 for new tapes because I don't think VS80 tapes will work in VS160 drives, what we need is a system that will keep a weeks worth of full backups, each day on a different tape/medium/whatever, and it's just automatic. We used to have a single tape drive, but no one ever remembered to rotate the tape. This "Automated Tape" drive was ideal, but this is the second time the drive has failed in 3 years, and now that it's out of warranty spending $2800 to replace an obsolete drive when you could spend an extra $250 for a new updated drive doesn't seem very cost effective.
Trying to save money here is the object, was considering online backups, but a little worried about backing up data over the Internet.
Questions:
Should we try to get another tape drive?
Do DLT-IV VS80 tapes work in DLT VS160 drives?
Optical: Would a DVD-RAM drive with a changer be a viable alternative?
Were's a good place to find business storage solutions?
Sorry for the long winded letter, just trying to get this system working again, any help is appreciated.
According to Dell the fan is bad, but the fan is running fine, so could be something like a sensor or something, the room was slightly hot, but nothing serious. The drive is out of warranty, and Dell won't extend the warranty on the drive (Funny story if I called warranty extension before I called support they would of allowed me to renew the warranty (for $600 and get a replacement drive sent out, but that's a story for another "Dell Sux" blog), they want $2800 to send the parts so I can fix the drive myself, so we are fishing around for alternatives.
Dell sells new drives with similar features for around $3000 with warranty, but probably another $500 for new tapes because I don't think VS80 tapes will work in VS160 drives, what we need is a system that will keep a weeks worth of full backups, each day on a different tape/medium/whatever, and it's just automatic. We used to have a single tape drive, but no one ever remembered to rotate the tape. This "Automated Tape" drive was ideal, but this is the second time the drive has failed in 3 years, and now that it's out of warranty spending $2800 to replace an obsolete drive when you could spend an extra $250 for a new updated drive doesn't seem very cost effective.
Trying to save money here is the object, was considering online backups, but a little worried about backing up data over the Internet.
Questions:
Should we try to get another tape drive?
Do DLT-IV VS80 tapes work in DLT VS160 drives?
Optical: Would a DVD-RAM drive with a changer be a viable alternative?
Were's a good place to find business storage solutions?
Sorry for the long winded letter, just trying to get this system working again, any help is appreciated.
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