LTO tape drives for MacPro?

[Alexis Hanawalt]

What are the best options out there for LTO-3 drives for backing up 4K data with a MacPro? This seems like the best option for projects that have a lot of footage (I'd thought about Blu-Ray, but that just seems too risky...) - But I can find any vendors that specify any sort of functionality with Macs.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Most all LTO-3, etc... tape systems support Mac. You will need to equip your Mac Pro with a proper SCSI controller and then buy the drive system of choice. Some configurations come with backup software, some don't, but there's plenty out there for the Mac too.

I'm holding off until my RED is closer -- hopes that LTO-4 or other possible backup solutions emerge by then. BluRay I don't think will be a real possibility until they get capacities up, prices down and prove its reliability.

[Stuart English]

Not LTO, but Quantum's SDLT 600A is a roughly equivalent Mac OSX compatible product that connects to your computer network via GigaBit Ethernet. I have seen it working wth a MacBook Pro as well as tower style Macs.

http://www.quantum.com/Products/Tape...00A/Index.aspx

Although this site talks a lot about MXF, it works with any type of file....

[Chris Kenny]

LTO-4 products are supposed to be out in the first half of this year. 800 GB per tape, over 100 MB/s transfer rate. Not too shabby. Probably going to be pretty pricey at first, though.

[Alexis Hanawalt]

LTO-4 products are supposed to be out in the first half of this year. 800 GB per tape, over 100 MB/s transfer rate. Not too shabby. Probably going to be pretty pricey at first, though.

Yeah, I figure LTO-3 will still be the way to go price-wise for a while. Psychologically a little easier to deal with the concept of 400Gb on a tape than 800Gb too...

[Chris Kenny]

Yeah, I figure LTO-3 will still be the way to go price-wise for a while. Psychologically a little easier to deal with the concept of 400Gb on a tape than 800Gb too...

Heh. It's hard to deal with any of it. I've got an IT background (this time last year I was making most of my money doing network administration and web development), and I can barely wrap my head around what's happened with storage capacities in the last few years. I'll be in the middle of crunching numbers to figure out what kind of disk array to build, and I'll look up and realize I'm just casually considering how many thousands of gigabytes of storage I'll need, and that six months from now, I'm going to have over 10,000 times as much storage as on my first Mac, a Quadra 660AV.

It's sort of strange to be able to tell "back in the day" stories when you're 24, but that's the situation the pace of technology has put me in.

And then I think of how nuts things are going to be 10 years from now....

[Zach Hilton]

Heh. It's hard to deal with any of it. I've got an IT background (this time last year I was making most of my money doing network administration and web development), and I can barely wrap my head around what's happened with storage capacities in the last few years. I'll be in the middle of crunching numbers to figure out what kind of disk array to build, and I'll look up and realize I'm just casually considering how many thousands of gigabytes of storage I'll need, and that six months from now, I'm going to have over 10,000 times as much storage as on my first Mac, a Quadra 660AV.

It's sort of strange to be able to tell "back in the day" stories when you're 24, but that's the situation the pace of technology has put me in.

And then I think of how nuts things are going to be 10 years from now....

I hear ya man. Nothing like growing up and seeing all of the major technological advancements happen right before your eyes. Pretty amazing if you ask me!

I'm not as familiar with tape drive technology so maybe someone who is could shed some light. Is the LTO-3 different than Sony AIT drives? And what should one look into for a tape drive? I agree the bluray really isn't the best optimal archiving format and for me as of now, the tape drive seems like the best solution so far.

[Don Woods]

So I looked at quantum's site and the only thing that worrys me is they only have windows based drivers? anyone have a link for an LTO 3 drive with mac drivers. and card sugestions?

[Chris Kenny]

Might want to go at things from the other end. Pick backup software and then check the device compatibility list. Here's the database for Retrospect.

[Zakaree Sandberg]

wow.. did i just stumble upon a chinese thread? cuz i cant understand anything you guys are talking about.. i know how to light a scene.. use lenses.. shoot.. move camera.. but wtf.... am i completely screwed?