(OT) archiving as opposed to backing up

[Patrick/VCM SysOp]

> We make them, and our customers use them.  14 drive building 
> blocks, which combine into groups for bigger configurations 
> (more space, more speed).  4 unit groups (16 TB) are common.  
> We have run internal tests quite a lot larger than that.

Cool!  Thank you, Paul!!!  

> Some people would like you to believe that iSCSI and SATA are 
> only for the low end.  Don't believe them, it's not true.

We give Service Level Agreements to our customers, and so I for one don't
really care about what's considered low-end or high-end.  I care about what
woks in my environment and doesn't make me drive to the facility at 2am (and
stay until the following 2am).  We've got some of the so-called "high-end"
gear, and it's not that reliable, expensive to keep on maintenance, and the
manufacturer is unpleasant to deal with (they'll kill themselves to sell you
a unit, but the post-sales support experience is completely different).

Of course, the fact that I can get an SATA drive at my local CompUSA, where
they don't sell anything SCSI, let alone SCA, is an attractive notion.

Thanks for the tip/info!  
Patrick