TL2000 for $100 (+ shipping)

[dmpd]

I ordered one. It will arrive in a few days.
I also grabbed some LTO 5 tape drives to see if they would work in the library here for $50 bucks.

I'll update the thread once I receive them.

 

[piranha32]

This is a full height, narrow width drive. The library uses half height drives with display on a side. I don't think it will fit, but probably you can use it as a standalone unit.

 

[dmpd]

This is a full height, narrow width drive. The library uses half height drives with display on a side. I don't think it will fit, but probably you can use it as a standalone unit.

Ah bummer! Oh well, will update on both once received!

 

[piranha32]

Ah bummer! Oh well, will update on both once received!

For reference, this is how a replacement drive in TL2000 sled looks like (pics stolen from DELL IBM LTO-5 SAS HH Tape Drive Loader Library 46X6073 0991C9 46X1939 12X4402 | eBay)

 

[piranha32]

Drive is recognized by the library and did not report any errors.
The drive looks clean, maintenance page says that it does not need cleaning, but since it came from an unknown source, should I run a cleaning tape anyway? Or is the self-cleaning mechanism sufficient to keep it in good condition?

 

[Terry Kennedy]

For reference, this is how a replacement drive in TL2000 sled looks like (pics stolen from DELL IBM LTO-5 SAS HH Tape Drive Loader Library 46X6073 0991C9 46X1939 12X4402 | eBay)

You can put a single full-height or two half-height drives in the 24-slot library. That goes up to two or four in the 48-slot library.

 

[piranha32]

Will a full-height drive work in a half height sled?

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Will a full-height drive work in a half height sled?

Maybe. There are a couple variants of the sleds, even just considering the SAS ones (ignoring SCSI and FC). Different generations of drives had different library interfaces, so the cabling can be different. And of course you need to do something to manage the airflow.

Given that there are a lot of sleds without drives on eBay (I think people are converting the drives to standalone), if you need a FH sled, you may as well just buy one.

 

[piranha32]

Looking for a drive I only saw half height, so I was a bit surprised that also a full height drive can be used.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Looking for a drive I only saw half height, so I was a bit surprised that also a full height drive can be used.

The 24-slot library has a pair of connectors, for either 2 HH or 1 FH. When using HH drives, you fill the lower slot first and then the upper slot.

The blank filler panels are hard to come by. They come in both HH and FH versions (obviously a FH filler won't be useful for your 24-slot library as that would cover all possible drive locations).