# How to use data cartridge and tape drive.



## rupeshforu3 (Jul 17, 2018)

Hi I am Rupesh from India and I have large amount of data in internal hard disk of my PC and I want to backup to removable storage like tape cartridge or external hard disk.

I want to move up to 700 GB of data from internal hard disk of my PC to tape drive or external hard disk and so I am searching for cheapest method. 

So I want secondary storage of size 2 tb and I have examined storage such as external hard disk such as segate  expansion, data cartridge such as "HP LTO 6 Ultrium 2.5/6.25 TB MP RW Data Cartridge (C7976A)", blue ray DVDs etc.,.

Upon examining the above storage technologies I came to decision that data cartridge is the cheap and best.

As I am from India I have searched for data cartridge in amazon.in and found that it costs 2900 rupees for 
"HP LTO 6 Ultrium 2.5/6.25 TB MP RW Data Cartridge (C7976A)". For segate expansion disk the cost is 6400 Indian currency.

Up to now I have used a variety of storages such as sata,ide hard disks and segate expansion disk of size 1 tb, micro SD card, 3.5 inch floppy disk, compact disk ie., CDs, DVDs, USB pen drive etc. I have never used data cartridge before and even I have not seen it.

Now the issue is how to attach data cartridge to a PC and transfer files between PC and the data cartridge. What I am expecting is does the data cartridge itself can be connected directly to a PC through USB or it must be inserted in a drive and then connect the drive to a PC.

Data cartridge costs up to 3000 rupees Indian currency but can anyone of you guess how much tape drive costs and specify it. Also if you don't mind can you suggest where I can buy tape drive in India.

Regards,
Rupesh.


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## SaiyanGoku (Jul 17, 2018)

Why would you buy a tape drive in 2018? 
Get an external HDD. WD 2TB drive was going for 5k on amazon yesterday.


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## billubakra (Jul 17, 2018)

Any specific reason why you want to use decades old technology in today's world?


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## rupeshforu3 (Jul 17, 2018)

External hard disks of size 2tb are starting from 5500 but 6.5 tb data cartridge is 2900 rupees only.

Please examine the following link
*www.amazon.in/HP-Ultrium-6-25-Cartridge-C7976A/dp/B00AHQUV3S

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## billubakra (Jul 17, 2018)

rupeshforu3 said:


> External hard disks of size 2tb are starting from 5500 but 6.5 tb data cartridge is 2900 rupees only.
> 
> Please examine the following link
> *www.amazon.in/HP-Ultrium-6-25-Cartridge-C7976A/dp/B00AHQUV3S
> ...



A seller with no ratings. Better buy a 1tb hdd for around 3800 bucks.


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## SaiyanGoku (Jul 17, 2018)

rupeshforu3 said:


> External hard disks of size 2tb are starting from 5500 but 6.5 tb data cartridge is 2900 rupees only.
> 
> Please examine the following link
> *www.amazon.in/HP-Ultrium-6-25-Cartridge-C7976A/dp/B00AHQUV3S
> ...


*www.amazon.in/Passport-External-Hard-Drive-Black/dp/B079V4L9BD/
2TB at 5k

I have no idea how to even access a LTO drive, much less use it on a daily basis. Unless you know how to do it, that drive would just waste your money.

PS: There is a reason why all of the consumer devices use either HDD, SSD or flash storage and not tape drives anymore.


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## rupeshforu3 (Jul 17, 2018)

OK can anyone of you specify Seagate external hard disks with size 2tb below 5000 rupees because WD external hard disk brought by me previously  is not working properly.

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## SaiyanGoku (Jul 17, 2018)

rupeshforu3 said:


> OK can anyone of you specify Seagate external hard disks with size 2tb below 5000 rupees because WD external hard disk brought by me previously  is not working properly.
> 
> Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk


Only 2TB WD Passport is going for 5k and others are priced higher. What is the issue with your previous WD drive?


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## rupeshforu3 (Jul 17, 2018)

At first it worked fine after some days it felt down by mistake and I am unable to access files in it.

After some days I have brought another segate expansion disk and it also felt sometimes down by mistake but still working.

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## SaiyanGoku (Jul 17, 2018)

rupeshforu3 said:


> At first it worked fine after some days it felt down by mistake and I am unable to access files in it.
> 
> After some days I have brought another segate expansion disk and it also felt sometimes down by mistake but still working.
> 
> Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk


You can't really hope a mechanical drive to work perfectly fine after it fell down. If it is still in warranty, get it RMA'd. Seagate one is still working on pure luck.

BTW, an external SSD like samsung T5 and T3 could prevent you from loosing data because of drops but would not be cheap.


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## rupeshforu3 (Jul 17, 2018)

OK many people are suggesting that WD product's are inferior in quality than segate product's that too WD does not have good support like service centres in India.

Due to the above reason I am hesitating to buy WD external hard disk.

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## rupeshforu3 (Jul 17, 2018)

I think that segate free agent of size 2tb comes below 5000 rupees.

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## SaiyanGoku (Jul 17, 2018)

rupeshforu3 said:


> I think that segate free agent of size 2tb comes below 5000 rupees.
> 
> Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk


*www.amazon.in/Seagate-Expansion-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B00TKFEE5S
Not the free agent drive


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## rupeshforu3 (Jul 17, 2018)

There is no warranty for this product and so does is it mean it is fake.

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## SaiyanGoku (Jul 17, 2018)

rupeshforu3 said:


> There is no warranty for this product and so does is it mean it is fake.
> 
> Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk


I'm surprised to see "No warranty" mentioned on the product page. Might be an error. Check with Amazon CC. Since it is amazon fulfilled, I doubt they would sell an out of warranty drive for 5k.


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## rupeshforu3 (Jul 17, 2018)

OK thanks for your suggestions.

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## whitestar_999 (Jul 18, 2018)

rupeshforu3 said:


> OK many people are suggesting that WD product's are inferior in quality than segate product's that too WD does not have good support like service centres in India.
> 
> Due to the above reason I am hesitating to buy WD external hard disk.
> 
> Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk


You are the first person I know to claim that WD after sales support is poorer than seagate in India.Also do remember that when it comes to HDD the most important factor is luck irrespective of which brand hdd you buy so always keep a backup.

P.S. tape storage is still very much present though only in corporate world & for good reason,for home consumers it is as good as dead.
2018 Data Storage Market Overview - EnterpriseStorageForum.com


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## rupeshforu3 (Jul 18, 2018)

whitestar_999 said:


> You are the first person I know to claim that WD after sales support is poorer than seagate in India.Also do remember that when it comes to HDD the most important factor is luck irrespective of which brand hdd you buy so always keep a backup.
> 
> P.S. tape storage is still very much present though only in corporate world & for good reason,for home consumers it is as good as dead.
> 2018 Data Storage Market Overview - EnterpriseStorageForum.com


Corporate world do you mean tape drive and it's cassette or cartridge costs lakhs of Indian currency.

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## SaiyanGoku (Jul 18, 2018)

rupeshforu3 said:


> Corporate world do you mean tape drive and it's cassette or cartridge costs lakhs of Indian currency.
> 
> Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk


Don't know. Never bothered about searching prices of near obsolete tech (from a consumer's POV).


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## whitestar_999 (Jul 18, 2018)

rupeshforu3 said:


> Corporate world do you mean tape drive and it's cassette or cartridge costs lakhs of Indian currency.
> 
> Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk


Tape cartridges are cheap but the read write drive costs lakhs.


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## rupeshforu3 (Jul 18, 2018)

whitestar_999 said:


> Tape cartridges are cheap but the read write drive costs lakhs.


Yes what I have guessed is correct ie., data cartridge cost is less but it's drive costs lakhs. 

First I thought that data cartridge itself has a way to attach to PC through USB port. To clarify my doubt I have created this thread.

Thanks for your suggestion.

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## SaiyanGoku (Mar 18, 2022)

chitrasureworks7 said:


> Tape drives are *tape drive*


Get TF lost spammer


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