4
For future growth, the VXA Packet Tape technology incorporates a decade of planned
enhancements to increase capacity and transfer rates. With a planned increase of ten times the
original VXA-1 specification, and four times todays VXA-2 capacity, future VXA products will
address aggressive upcoming storage growth and data protection requirements without requiring
another tape format migration.
Available Today
Future Products
Format
VXA-1
VXA-2
VXA-3
VXA-4
Availability
Now
Now
2005
2007
Capacity (Native)
33 GB
80 GB
160 GB
320 GB
Transfer Rate
3 MB/second
6 MB/second
12 MB/second
24 MB/second
6. Will I need new backup software?
Due to the overwhelming adoption of VXA Packet Tape technology by industry leaders such as
IBM, HP, Toshiba, Apple, ACER and Fujitsu, almost all backup application vendors have
incorporated VXA support into their products. It is likely that your current backup application
supports VXA technology, requiring at most a revision level upgrade. Please visit the Exabyte Web
site or consult with your preferred backup software vendor for the latest compatibility and version
status.
7. My DDS drive is internally / externally mounted. How do I install the VXA-2
Packet Tape Drive?
The VXA-2 Packet Tape Drive is available either as an internally mounted device or in a
freestanding external cabinet. The choice of internal or external mounting depends on the physical
configuration of your server.
If your server has the physical space within the cabinet for the device, internally mounting the VXA-
2 Packet Tape Drive provides a safe environment, and eliminates the possibility that external
cables may be dislodged. However, internal mounting requires more effort, and somewhat more
complicated cabling.
If the VXA-2 Packet Tape Drive is intended to replace the DDS SCSI tape drive, the process is
much simpler, as the drive will be inserted into the servers cabinet in thesame position, using the
same hardware utilized for mounting the DDS drive. If the DDS tape drive was connected with a
SCSI 68 pin connector, the same connector may be used to attach the VXA-2 Packet Tape Drive.
If the cable includes a different style SCSI connector, it may be possible to acquire an adapter to
convert the connector to the proper format.
68 pin internal cable connector required to
View of the connector on the rear of the
connect the VXA-2 tape drive
internally mounted VXA-2 Packet Tape Drive
Installing the external VXA-2 Packet Tape Drive is simply achieved by connecting the device power
cord to a standard AC outlet, and connecting the drive within the SCSI cabling.
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