HP 200T User Manual
Page 161
Tested to extremes. The crucial
difference between HP Ultrium
and its competitors
HP’s specifications go well beyond requirements for the LTO logo. Logo tests do
not measure product quality because this would prevent a truly open standard
where customers are able to choose the widest selection of products based on
other factors such as cost, value and performance, as well as compatibility. The
Compliance Verification process for Ultrium media which confers Ultrium logo
status does not require in-depth environmental or dynamic testing. HP brand
qualification includes this, and more.
HP media customers are many and varied. The reason why HP invests so much in
extensive reliability testing is because changes in platform and external conditions
can have a profound effect on tape error rate. Increased error rates jeopardise
back ups, and back up disruption jeopardises business continuity. In order to
protect customers from the impact of these variations, HP scrutinises every single
batch of HP media.
Besides, media manufacture is a complex business; suppliers are always changing
processes, geographic locations and components to improve their efficiency. These
changes often have an adverse impact on the product. Even something as innocuous
as a leaking factory roof can affect the purity of the ingredients. Only a testing
programme as deep and as wide as HP’s can ensure the best possible experience
for customers. HP invests millions of $ in this area so customers do not need to.
It’s false to assume that all tapes are the same or even that a single brand of tape
will always perform in the same way. HP is always vigilant.
For example, would a cartridge created in the heat of an Australian summer
survive a New York winter or Hong Kong monsoon? Tape rarely encounters such
extremes. But it’s not impossible that it might.
Cartridges are being moved on and offline, on and offsite all the time these days.
Will they perform to the spec no matter how many times they’re dropped and
knocked on their many trips between the vault and the data centre? However
many times a tape is loaded in and out of the drive, will it remain stable and
reliable for the whole of its life? In a busy and dynamic 24x7 e-commerce
network, after hundreds of backup/restore cycles, can data still be accurately
retrieved from the tape?