Home > Ask the Storage Technology Experts > Backup/Recovery Questions & Answers > Clarifying high duty cycle
Ask The Storage Expert: Questions & Answers
EMAIL THIS

Clarifying high duty cycle

W. Curtis Preston EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: W. Curtis Preston

Pose a Question
Other Storage Categories
Meet all Storage Experts
Become an Expert for this site


Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us   


>
QUESTION POSED ON: 31 July 2002

There was a question posted on May 23, regarding which tape drive technology would be best for a "high duty cycle" environment. You stated that LTO drives and enterprise class drives (9840, 9940) have similar MTBF ratings based on 100% duty cycle. Can you definitively say that the term "100% duty cycle" is an industry standard?

I have learned from different sources that for a mid-range drive such as an LTO or SDLT, a 100% duty cycle is based on eight hours of usage per day but enterprise class drives base their 100% duty cycle on 16 hours of usage per day. If it is true that duty cycle is an arbitrary term, how can a company effectively compare the reliability of various tape technologies?


BROWSE BY TAG
Backup/Recovery,   VIEW ALL TAGS

Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us   


RELATED CONTENT
Backup/Recovery
Troubles with burning software
Running a second daily backup
Remote data software
Using NetBackup with different servers
Different types of disasters and how to protect your data
Contact vendor for error message troubleshooting
What about consolidating data tape to tape?
Are people backing up data to a mainframe?
Five golden rules for backup
Explaining the essence of disk-to-disk backup and its advantages

RELATED RESOURCES
2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems
Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts
Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary


This sounds like FUD from a vendor. I cannot refute it, but I can't prove it either. I'd like to see a cite on that information. Since duty cycle is such an accepted term, I would think that a vendor that said it had a 100% duty cycle based on an eight-hour day would have to say so with an asterisk. The definition of duty cycle is "the percentage of time the unit is used". There are drives that claim less than a 100% duty cycle. AIT used to claim less than 100% but it appears that they now claim 100%.

Editor's note: Do you agree with this expert's response? If you have more to share, post it in one of our discussion forums.



Search and Browse the Expert Answer Center
Search and browse more than 25,000 question and answer pairs from more than 250 TechTarget industry experts.
Browse our Expert Advice



Search for Data Management Tools and Tiered Storage Reseller Solutions
TechTarget Storage Media
Storage Magazine View this month\\'s issue and subscribe today.
Storage Decisions Apply online for free conference admission.
SearchStorage.com
HomeNewsMagazineTopicsLearningMultimediaWhite PapersBlogsEventsAbout Us
SEARCH :     Site Index Powered by: Search Powered by Google

About Us  |  Contact Us  |  For Advertisers  |  For Business Partners  |  Site Index  |  RSS
TechTarget provides technology professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective purchase decisions and managing their organizations' technology projects - with its network of technology-specific websites, events and online magazines.

TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Site Map




All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2000 - 2009, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy 		  TechTarget - The IT Media ROI Experts