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Charles Curran IT-DS-HO
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Such robots vary greatly in capacity, capability and cost. Currently CERN has installed or tested at some time the following systems (in alphabetic order):
COMPAQ TL893
The COMPAQ TL893 robot used at CERN until June 2001 was originally an Odetics/ATL product. It included a base unit and two attached extension units, each hosting 3 drives and 264 cartridges in a rotating drum. Each unit had a pick and load mechanism moving in the vertical direction. A 'conveyor belt' cartridge exchange mechanism connected the three units together, and the base unit had an entry/exit station. There is a still view of the equipment at:
file://///cern.ch/dfs/users/c/cscct/www
GRAU ABBA/J
A GRAU ABBA/J robot was installed at CERN for test in 1996 with the kind help of GRAU, in preparation for a call for tender. It was fitted with 4 DLT4000 drives and ~100 cartridges. You can see a videoclip of this test system at:
http://cern.ch/it-div-ds/HO/movies/grau.html
IBM 3495
The IBM 3495 robots at CERN supported ~17,500 3480 cartidges in one system with 16 drives and ~17,500 3490 cartridges in the second. They were retired in 1996, but you can see a still view at:
http://cern.ch/it-div-ds/HO/vault/robot3495.html
and a videoclip of it in action at:
http://cern.ch/it-div-ds/HO/movies/r3495.html
IBM 3494
The IBM 3494 robots at CERN supported ~3,000 3590 cartridges in one system with 8 3590 drives and ~2,500 3590 cartridges in the second (used for HPSS). Both have been retired, but you can see a still view at:
http://cern.ch/it-div-ds/HO/vault/robot3494.html
IBM 3584
The IBM 3584 robot used for test at CERN 4Q2000 supports the Ultrium/LTO unit. It was fitted with 8 drives and ~300 LTO cartridges. This system was kindly installed for test with the help of IBM.
STK Powderhorn
The STK Powderhorn robots currently at CERN support the STK Redwood SD3, 9840 and 9940 units. IBM 3590E units are also fitted. They are installed in two clusters:
STK Timberwolf 9714 and 9710
The small STK 9714 robot was used for a time before being replaced by two larger STK 9710s. These systems all support DLT7000 units. One 9710 is in use still for backups.
STK_ACS1 Timberwolf 9710
The other 9710, STK_ACS1, has replaced the old COMPAQ TL893. Both the 9710s are fitted with 6 DLT7000 units (35 GB CompactTape IV cartridges, ~5 MBytes/s) and have a capacity of ~580 cartridges.
See a 9714 (not the larger 9710 still in use at CERN) at: http://cern.ch/it-div-ds/HO/picture/timberwolf.gif
STK L700e LTO/Ultrium and SDLT library
The STK L700e robot is now coming into service. It offers ~600 cartridge slots, and is fitted with 2 IBM, 2 Hewlett Packard and 2 Seagate LTO/Ultrium units as well as 2 Quantum Super DLT (SDLT) units. The LTO ('LTO1') unit offers 100 GB native capacity per cartridge, and read/write speeds of ~14 Mbytes/s. The Super DLT unit offers 110 GB native capacity per cartridge, and read/write speeds of ~10 Mbytes/s.
Below is a list of some suppliers of various types of unit that are in use at CERN, together with the manufacturer's or other available prices. Note that cleaning cartridge media identifications are for STK Powderhorn (0940, 9840, 3590E0 and STK L700e (LTO, SDLT).
Device Speed..... Media Capacity, nominal Price.... From DVD RAM ~1 MByte/s ~5 GB ~ 1,000 CHF Transtec Ultrium (HP) (1) ~15 MByte/s L1 100 GB ~ 7,500 CHF Transtec STK T9940B (1) ~30 MByte/s P 200 GB Not quoted STK STK T9940A (1) ~12 MByte/s P 60 GB Not quoted STK STK Redwood (1) ~12 MByte/s A/B/C 10/25/50 GB Not quoted STK STK 9840 (1) ~12 MByte/s R 20 GB Not quoted STK IBM 3590-E1A (1) ~14 MByte/s J/K 20/40 GB (256 tr) ~ 43,500 $ IBM US IBM 3590-B1A (1) ~ 9 MByte/s J 10/20 GB (128 tr) ~ 29,500 $ IBM US IBM 3490-F00 ~ 3 MByte/s E 800 MB (36 tr) ~ 18,500 $ IBM US Sony AIT ~ 3 MByte/s ~25 GB ~ 7,500 CHF Transtec Exabyte Mammoth 2 ~ 6 MByte/s ~60 GB ~ 8,500 CHF Transtec Exabyte Mammoth ~ 3 MByte/s ~20 GB ~ 4,300 CHF Transtec Exabyte 820 Eliant ~ 1 MByte/s ~7 GB ~ 2,600 CHF Transtec HP DAT 4mm C1533A ~ 700 Kbyte/s 6 GB (120m) ~ 1,400 CHF Transtec SDLT (SuperDLT) ~11 MByte/s 110 GB ~ 10,500 CHF Transtec DLT 8000 ~ 6 MByte/s 40 GB ~ 10,500 CHF Transtec DLT 7000 ~ 5 MByte/s 35 GB ~ 7,900 CHF Transtec DLT 4000 ~ 1.5 MByte/s 20 GB ~ 3,000 CHF Transtec Notes: (1) Model ready for fitting to a library IBM 3480 no longer available from IBM. DLT 2000 is no longer available as a new purchase.
No current media are CERN stores items (having a SCEM number in the CERN Stores Catalog). IT buys 9940 'P' media and 9840 'R' media in bulk for use in the CASTOR HSM system.
Media to be used directly by users (not by CASTOR) will need to be purchased directly. To help you find a convenient supplier, you will find the list of suppliers that we have used ourselves. Remember, however, that there are no doubt other equally satisfactory suppliers that you may have access to from your home institutes, etc.
The price per item indicated is the lowest price currently offered by any supplier. It should looked upon as a guide, as the exact value would depend on the quantity bought... If you consult the CERN stores catalog for an item with a SCEM number, you can find the exact price you would be currently charged. This is likely to be somewhat higher, as they usually have a stock of media bought following a previous (and usually more expensive) price enquiry.
LEP experiments and others collecting relatively small amounts of data can now obtain 9940 'P' or 9840 'R' media under a special arrangement via TIDs. You are welcome to make general inquiries about tape media through tape.support@cern.ch.
New arrivals are LTO (Linear Tape Open) 'Ultrium' and the Quantum SDLT (Super DLT) units. Thes LTO unit and the relevant media are made by several suppliers, who have licences to make the products from the LTO consortium, so unit and media prices may reasonably be expected to fall as more suppliers enter the market and competition bites.
Unit type CERN stores? Media,Capacity Cost CHF Cost CHF/GB
LTO HP - L1 100 GB ~350 ~ 3.5
LTO HP cleaning - C1 N/A ~200 N/A
LTO IBM cleaning - C2 N/A ~200 N/A
LTO Seagate cleaning - C3 N/A ~200 N/A
STK Redwood - C 50 GB ~ 60 ~ 1.2
STK Redwood - B 25 GB ~ 50 ~ 2.0
STK Redwood - A 10 GB ~ 35 ~ 3.5
STK 9940 - P 200/60 GB ~130 ~ 0.6/2
STK 9940 cleaning - U N/A ~150 N/A
STK 9840 - R 20 GB ~110 ~ 5.5
STK 9840 cleaning - W N/A ~150 N/A
SDLT - S 110 GB ~150 ~ 1.4
SDLT cleaning - S N/A ~150 N/A
DLT8000 12.18.06.805.7 - 40 GB ~100 ~ 2.6
DLT7000 12.18.06.805.7 - 35 GB ~100 ~ 2.9
DLT4000 12.18.06.805.7 - 20 GB ~100 ~ 5.2
DLT2000 12.18.06.800.2 - 10 GB ~52 ~ 5.2
3590E 256 tr mode - K 40 GB ~100 ~ 2.5
3590E 256 tr mode - J 20 GB ~ 50 ~ 2.5
3590E cleaning - J N/A ~100 N/A
3490E 36 tr - E 800 MB ~ 12 ~14.5
3480 18 tr - 1 200 MB ~ 5 ~23.0
8mm 8900 Mammoth - - 20 GB ~125 ~ 5.0
8mm 160m ('XL') - - 7 GB ~ 16 ~ 2.3
8mm 112m 12.18.06.050.6 - 5.0 GB ~ 5 1.1
4mm 120m DDS - - 4 GB ~ 25 ~ 6.3
4mm 90m DDS - - 2 GB ~ 10 ~ 5.0
CD-RW 12.18.07.100.09 - 650 MB ~ 4 ~ 6.2
CD-R 12.18.07.010.01 - 650 MB ~ 3 ~ 4.2
DVD RAM - - 5 GB ~60 ~12.0
Summarising the most common media in use at CERN:
Type Data rate Capacity Unit cost Cost/GB
SD3 Redwood ~10 MB/sec 50 GB ~ 60 ~ 1.2
3590E 256 tr 'K' ~14 MB/sec 40 GB ~100 ~ 2.5
3590E 256 tr 'J' ~14 MB/sec 20 GB ~ 50 ~ 2.5
Ultrium LTO ~15 MB/sec 100 GB ~350 ~ 3.5
3590 128 tr 'J' ~9 MB/sec 10 GB ~ 50 ~ 5.0
DLT2000 ~1 MB/sec 10 GB ~ 39 ~ 5.2
9840 ~9 MB/sec 20 GB ~110 ~ 5.5
9940 (T9940A unit) ~9 MB/sec 60 GB ~130 ~ 2.0
9940 (T9940B unit) ~30 MB/sec 200 GB ~130 ~ 0.6
Some known suppliers of robots, units and media, in alphabetic order
These URLs were verified on 14 November 2002, and the comments (if any) are appropriate to the circumstances on that date.
ADIC
ADIC are now the supplier of GRAU and other robotic products. Their home web site (where you can directly select 'Tape Libraries' for a good overview and summary of products) is at:
The ABBA/J, ABBA/E and ABBA/2 robots (smallest is the 'J') are unusual, as they can handle all common media types. Capacities range from ~300 to ~70000 cartridges. The UK Meteorological Office still has an ABBA/2 installed, as far as I know, although it will be retired at some point. ECMWF uses a 'J' model for Sony AIT tapes, supporting a 'last resort' backup facility. They chose this solution as it was sufficiently small (for ~3000 cartridges) to fit in the space left in their computer centre.
COMPAQ
Compaq's principal storage products web site (but you need to call/e-mail to find a price):
http://www.compaq.com/products/storageworks/tape_optical_storage.html
The site lists among other products DLT libraries (ESL 9000, TL 891, TL 895), Sony AIT libraries and DAT libraries.
GRAU
See ADIC... Tape Libraries... View by size... and ABBA/J, ABBA/E, ABBA/2.
IBM
See IBM's principal storage products web site (you can use their search option there to find a particular product, such as the 3494, 3584) is at:
http://www.storage.ibm.com/hardsoft/tape/index.html
Sony
Sony supply the Petasite robotic library, as well as the Sony AIT and DTF tape units (supports a 12 GB and a 42 GB cartridge). Their principal site (where it is not easy to find products) is http://www.sony.com/, where a search for 'DTF' points relevant sites. The DTF drive has a model 'GV2120'.
StorageTek
See StorageTek's principal storage products web site (could not find prices):
http://www.storagetek.com/StorageTek/accessory/
Quantum
See Quantum's storage products at this web site. Quantum now lists DLT media prices, as does Transtec. They list resellers of their DLT tape drives, but do not give prices directly. Look at http://www.quantum.com/AM/products/dlt/default.htm
Transtec
See Transtec's storage products at their web sites (several languages). Transtec states prices, which makes comparisons easy.
http://www.transtec.co.uk/ for English,
http://www.transtec.ch/ for Switzerland,
http://www.transtec.de/ for German,
http://www.transtec.fr/ for French
Navigation and search here does not seem simple! However, you can succeed in the English version, for example, by selecting the word 'Index' from the list in the left hand column of items and then going to 'T' and 'Tape Drives'. Scroll to the product that interests you.
To comment on this page please send email to
Charles Curran IT-DS-HO
CopyrightCERN