Tape

drive

failures

are

often

caused

by

 

contamination

in

the tape

path

or

by

using

poor

quality

media.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IBM

has

 

very

high

quality

standards

for

its storage

tape

and

 

prices

it

accordingly.

To

be

able

to

support

tape

products,

 

IBM

 

needs

to

constantly

 

test

and

evaluate.

However,

 

IBM

does

not

test

and

evaluate

 

non-IBM

products

on

an

ongoing

basis.

IBM

cannot

support

any

product

it

does

not

test.

IBM

can

only

support

tapes

sold

by

 

IBM.

If

IBM

service

personnel

 

analysis

indicates

a

problem

with

 

 

non-IBM media, including cleaning

cartridges,

 

it

 

might

be

necessary

 

for

the

 

 

 

customer

to

replace

the

suspect media

or

cleaning

cartridge

with

 

the

supported

 

media

or

 

cleaning

cartridge.

When

you

need

to

restore

data

from

 

tape, you

need

 

to

know

 

that

you

can

count

on

it

 

being

 

readable.

Any

savings

incurred

by

using

low

cost

tape

is

of

no

value

when

 

you

 

cannot

 

access

the

 

data

reliably.

 

Part 2: Appendixes 2-5

Page 39
Image 39
IBM 40/80 GB DLT manual Sold, Necessary, Suspect media, Tape, you