Metropol

Hey folks.

Our server backup drive (a DAT 72 tape drive) is failing. The backups aren't running and the server is highlighting "no media in drive".

I'm going to replace it with a like-for-like unit from Dabs. Its a SCSI interface, and should fit in the same slot as the existing internal drive on the Dell Poweredge.

Should this be relatively straightforward to power down the server and replace the drive? I'll obviously check for jumper settings, but beyond that can anyone highlight things I should be aware of?

This will save us 4 x £93 per hour - the charge from our outsourced IT firm. The last time I asked for them to call out and look at a machine they didn't follow my instructions and went for a bog standard Windows re installation, leaving me to configure all the third party apps and even set up an email account. So I'm not paying them a penny more unless there's a very good reason to do so.

A jelly baby to the most helpful forumer.

We have these drives replaced constantly on our servers at work. It is a pain in the backside - ours generally develop a slow flashing cleaning light.

One think to consider is replacing all the tapes you use in the drive. Any we have had replaced by Dell under warranty they have asked for a full tape replacement. Our tape supplier must love it.

m-in-m wrote:We have these drives replaced constantly on our servers at work. It is a pain in the backside - ours generally develop a slow flashing cleaning light.

One think to consider is replacing all the tapes you use in the drive. Any we have had replaced by Dell under warranty they have asked for a full tape replacement. Our tape supplier must love it.

I might go ahead and change the tapes first. There's no doubt they must be worn out.

Server is out of warranty. Asked the IT company to see what an extension to it would cost through Dell but they didn't come back with a quote yet after, erm, 4 months.

Nice chaps, lousy service.

in short, it should work. but there are a few things to consider:

make sure you configure the scsi id correctly on the new drive - if you don't and it happens to be the same as any other scsi devices on the interface things will stop working.

also, what backup software are you running?

i have a fair bit of experience with backup exec (been using it since the seagate days)- if you're running this you might find that if you replace a tape drive it will detect that it's different and you have to delete the old drive from the devices tab and re-target all your backup jobs so they point to the correct device, but it's quite easy and won't affect how the backup runs (if you're replacing your media, you'll just need to stick it in the correct pool so it gets the correct overwrite protection period etc etc).

Gavin Scott wrote:Server is out of warranty. Asked the IT company to see what an extension to it would cost through Dell but they didn't come back with a quote yet after, erm, 4 months.

Dell come back very quickly on quotes to the point that the woman from Dell appears to ring immediately after sending us an email about the smallest of things. Very annoying after a while.

i have quite the opposite experience with dell, and exactly the same as gavin: i had to chase probably about 6 or 7 calls to get a 15 grand server quote out of them. they also lost out last year on 50 grand of business for laptops and desktops because my account management wouldn't return her emails.

when i rang up the account team for my region i was told that only my account manager could deal with my enquiry because nobody else had access to my pricing. horse shit. what happens if she gets squashed by a bus on the way to work?