I've been down the LTO rabbithole for a few days now. So far, this video has delivered the most value in helping me understand practical concerns/considerations around an LTO solution. 5 stars!
Thank you, Larry! Getting started with LTO isn't totally obvious when you're coming from just plugging in USB hard disks, which of course, you eventually outgrow.
David: LTO can save a lot of money when you are constantly generating new media. But, it is a different way of thinking than simply adding hard disks. Larry
I rarely put RU-vid comment, but the information provided and the way you explained amazed me, Network engineer here came to refresh myself on tape and you nailed it. Thank You,
I've gone to Tandberg RDX, which is basically removable HDD with benefits. Are the benefits worth the added drive cost? Everyone has to answer that for themselves. In a commercial environment where terabytes of data must be maintained over long periods of time, I think probably so. We use RDX drives on a dedicated Mac mini with rsync scripts scheduled through launchd.
The problem with tape is that while the media might last three decades, you won’t be able to find drive to read back from. This is why for the vast majority of people just stick with 3.5 in, commodity, USB drives or disk dock equivalents. If you’re going to go LTO, buy two drives. Stick the spare drive somewhere cool, dry and safe. Cross your fingers when you need the data back.
RobertLeeAtYT: You're not wrong. The problem is that even thumb drives lose data over time. The bigger problem is that we don't have an affordable, safe, dependable solution for archiving large files. If you have lots of money, upgrading your LTO drives every ten years makes sense. But these things are expensive. Storing data on the Cloud leaves you vulnerable to Cloud providers getting hacked or going out of business taking your data with it. And thumb drives don't make sense when you have terabytes of media that need long-term storage. Archiving is a problem that still needs a solution. Larry
@@LarryJordanFCP no, not thumb drives. In fact flash of any type is awful for archiving. Unless powered up, data on these will bit rot away in under three years at room temperature; faster if stored at higher temperature. No, archive to commodity mechanical sata drives. Use a USB to SATA dock. Rsync differentials. Ship to off-site vault. Rotate back and spot check once a year. If you're doing large enterprises, then lto is fine. At that point it's really about large robotics carousels. Re. Cloud archiving, you're right it's the most stupid idea for local assets. If your live data is already in the cloud, however, you really don't have a choice
Tape drives are very specialized pieces of equipment and meant for the Enterprise space. Not everyone wants a tape drive for the home. They just want a storage medium that's easy to use like USB external hard drive. I am looking to get one for my home lab to backup the VMs and my personal stuffs. E-Bay got plenty used ones on there.
Larry, Great video and appreciate the recency of the information also. I'm currently using the M-Disc for my humble video archival needs. However, I'm very interested in LTO as I've heard so much about it within the (tiny but existing) backup and data protection bubble! One thing I've never understood about LTO is to what extent the written cartridges can be left totally cold. Is periodic scrubbing / checksum validation typically required or expected? Many thanks if you can find time to answer! Daniel
Daniel: Generally, you don't need to do much with these tapes. Put them on the shelf and keep them dry and away from dust. You do need to do checksums, though it may be a good idea to fast forward them through the drive - just to restack the tape - every few years. The tapes will last up to 30 years. Larry
This was an outSTANDING explanation, and, your VOICE is GOLD. I think I like your voice more than Will Lyman's, who narrates EVERYTHING. Truly epic; even as. someone who's pretty damned knowledgeable, I'm joining your site. Again, THANK YOU!
@@LarryJordanFCP And I'm even watching it again ... this time to see if there's anything in here about compression ... and whether it's a function of the type of media or not. :)
@@trumanhw Nope. Nothing about LTO compression. Why? Because media files are already compressed and an LTO system does not compress already compressed files. Compression applies, mostly, to Word, Excel and other "text-based" files. Larry
Excellent content Larry. I'm not one for commenting regularly but you're production (including your great voice) deserved a thank you in writing. As someone who has worked in tech for over 12+ years, we need more content producers like yourself explaining very important practices such as backup management.
Andrew: Thanks for your kind words. Yup, backups are essential and LTO is an excellent - though not cheap - long-term option. I enjoy putting these tutorials together. Larry
Dave: I agree. LTO is nearly perfect for long-term archiving - except that the drives are just too expensive. Worse, on the Mac, they require an adapter to connect an SAS drive via Thunderbolt (or, even, USB-C) which doubles their cost. It is a shame. Larry
