IBM 3581 Ultrium Tape Drive.(Hardware Review)(Evaluation)

THE RANGE OF Ultrium solutions from IBM include single tape drives, comparable to the HP Ultrium 230, as well as autoloaders and libraries with various capacities. IBM's top-of-the-line Ultrium library, model 3584, is a gigantic, multiple-enclosure unit that can store 248TB of data, using as many as 72 Ultrium drives with Fibre Channel connectivity. The IBM 3583 is an intermediate library that can host as many as six Ultrium drives and store 7.2TB of data.

We reviewed the IBM 3581 autoloader, a single-drive unit with robotic controls that can accommodate seven media cartridges in a box about twice the size of the HP Ultrium 230. Unlike the Plasmon and Seagate autoloaders we tested, the IBM 3581 doesn't have a magazine to facilitate media loading. Opening the front cover of the unit gives easy access to five media slots; the other two slots are hidden inside, so you must feed them by moving cartridges from the front slots, an operation easily performed from the unit's control panel.

Interestingly, you can equip the IBM 3581 with a bar code reader, a welcome option to simplify media management, but doing so obstructs one exposed slot, reducing the capacity of the autoloader to 1,200GB.

For our tests, we positioned the unit on a desk, but IBM offers a convenient rack-mountable sled that can hold two units side by side, an option to consider if space is scarce in your datacenter.

Whatever you choose, installation shouldn't be a problem. The IBM 3581 ships with proper cables, terminators, setup instructions for Unix and drivers for Windows NT or 2000. IBM also includes a tool, called NTUtil, that helps with a variety of debugging ...