Details

Augu st 1996 / BYTE Lab Product Report / Details

Several of the tape libraries (e.g., ADIC Scalar 458, Exabyte 210 and 218, Overland Data DLT, and Qualstar TLS-4220) we reviewed have standard or optional bar-code scanners that make it easier to keep tabs on your tape cartridges. These scanners read labels that you stick onto the data cartridges, and the tape's content is recorded in your software-library application's inven tory. When it comes time to grab a cartridge to restore data, the tape auto-loader can recognize it in seconds, which is much better than having to read all the labels to find the right cartridge.
We might be nitpicking here, but the ADIC VLS 4mm's tiny strip of an LED is so small that you can't read all the status information without scrolling across the display. The tape library needs either a bigger LED or smaller print.
You don't have to open up the ADIC Scalar 458 2000XT and the Qualstar TLS-4220 to insert a tape; you just feed it into the face of one of these big tape libraries. You can put cartridges in any of the Scalar 458's 10 open slots below the front control panel and then program what internal slot they are to be sent to. The TLS-4220 has one available tape slot at the top of the unit.

Bar Code Scanner Enabled
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Too Tiny LED
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Hungry Mouths to Feed
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Matthew Wilson
My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it is theoretical--and no language better exemplifies this than C++.

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