I think what Ryan was referring to was much more superficial than you are describing. And I've heard the same thing -- i.e. LTO2 and DLT drives share the same form factor, drive cages, cabling/ports, media form factor, etc. All in pointed contrast to AIT2. Although not as significant as MTBF or product maturity, these are nonetheless not trivial issues. Joe

Joe Luchtenberg Dataline, Inc. New number and email, please update: 757.858.0600 858.0606 fax joe.luchtenberg@data-line.com

-----Original Message----- From: Stringer, Douglas [SMTP:Douglas.Stringer@netapp.com] Sent: Monday, March 12, 2001 5:27 PM To: 'ryanb'; Moshe Linzer Cc: toasters@mathworks.com Subject: RE: LTO support?

Don't let the LTO manufactures hear you say that. With different driver support, media, ISV certification requirements and specifications that are anything but similar to DLT, the only common item these formats share is that they are 'linear' tape formats.

NetApp will be supporting LTO in the late summer/early fall timeframe.

Regards, Doug Stringer

-----Original Message----- From: ryanb [mailto:ryanb@enteract.com] Sent: Monday, March 12, 2001 12:58 PM To: Moshe Linzer Cc: toasters@mathworks.com Subject: Re: LTO support?

On Mon, Mar 12, 2001 at 09:17:57PM +0200, Moshe Linzer wrote:

...

Does anyone know when LTO will be supported on the filer? I have two 760's, and we are shopping around for a backup library. I am hesitant to go with LTO at this point, but management likes the numbers. Can anyone share experience or opinions on LTO drives or libraries?

Most LTO equipment is identical to DLT equipment, only with a different tape drive. In this respect, the LTO drives will perform identically, or so I'd like to think. ;) Please let me know if I'm wrong here.

• ryan