price of used LTO 7/8 tape drives?

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ThatPrettyFreya

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#317503 22-Oct-2024 16:40

Use case: we have about 30TB of data we pretty quickly need to get onto some kind of cold storage media lest our hard drives cough up a hairball, and so we can, preferably, migrate from btrfs to zfs. Seems like we can get LTO7/8 tapes pretty easily, what would be the easiest way to get a drive that can connect to a Dell R420, presumably drop in a SAS HBA and connect a drive that way? And, price, for a used one?

Getting sleepier by the day, except on the days that we're not

JimmyH

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#3300000 22-Oct-2024 17:02

I'm not an expert on how to do it, but I have also started exploring at possible tape backup solutions for my dragon's hoard. I'm currently haunting eBay, looking for decently priced used drives, and reading up on the server/software I would need to make a tape solution work.

For only circa 30TB of data it's marginal whether tape is financially sensible, and 2 external hard drives would likely give you this much capacity and more at a lower cost. The economics of tape only seem to work at 100TB+ scales (which I am now north of).

Also, for only 30TB I would look at LTO5 or LTO6. It's only a few more tapes, and the drive prices are substantially less. Earlier than LTO5 doesn't seem to make sense, as LTO5 is where LTFS was introduced.

ThatPrettyFreya

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#3300002 22-Oct-2024 17:07

@JimmyH

Yeah, just.... ouch are hard drives expensive in this country. We could get a 24TiB Seagate Exos renewed off Amazon for US$200, but.... again. ouch

Getting sleepier by the day, except on the days that we're not

danielparker

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#3300128 22-Oct-2024 20:16

Just buy HDs from overseas.. Don't complain about local pricing.. Just vote with your wallet. It only takes a couple of weeks to get from USA to NZ.

I have recently purchased an LTO-9 drive from NZ (approx $11K).. but have also purchased the same new drive from Ebay.. ($7K NZD).. The issue with the US Version is HP will not let me register it for warranty (Serial Number does not exist).. NZ Version was fine. Both work identically, and have identical packaging.. made in the same location etc..

JimmyH

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#3300679 23-Oct-2024 19:48

Indeed. I have purchased a couple of hard drives locally over recent years, but even when I got a good deal they were eye-wateringly expensive compared to what I can source from a reputable US supplier. When I next do a storage upgrade (probably replacing 8x6TB in my older array with 16TB or larger drives in 2-3 years) I will definitely import - the savings will probably bee $2,000+ even after GST and shipping. Even more if I'm prepared to go with refurbs.