HP DAT 160 SCSI External Tape Drive Q1574A#AC3 Prospecto
Los códigos de productos
Q1574A#AC3
12
The majority of the engineering effort on the DAT160 drive has gone into the DAT160 cartridge load
and unload, and DAT160 media threading and tape path. The ultimate measure of how good the
tape path and threading is can be conveyed in what is known as the base error rate (ERT) of the
drive. Minor deviations in tape tracking and tape edge damage manifest themselves in a degradation
drive. Minor deviations in tape tracking and tape edge damage manifest themselves in a degradation
of ERT. The drive met all its low ERT specifications in high-volume production before being released.
Q6. What have been the key time investments in developing this new
product?
product?
Fundamentally the design and development of a tape drive that could accommodate two tape widths
in a single mechanism took longer to perfect than HP initially estimated.
A key design brief of the DAT160 tape drive is that it is a transition step to higher capacity DAT
technology and HP wanted to ensure that the installed base had a good backwards compatibility
A key design brief of the DAT160 tape drive is that it is a transition step to higher capacity DAT
technology and HP wanted to ensure that the installed base had a good backwards compatibility
experience. Ensuring existing users of DAT72 and DAT40 media see a good return on their
investment in the technology is seen as being crucial to the ongoing success of DAT. HP sees
backwards compatibility as being a fundamental element of the DAT160’s return on investment
equation, unlike other technologies that offer increased capacity/performance but offer no backwards
equation, unlike other technologies that offer increased capacity/performance but offer no backwards
compatibility.
A significant element of any development program is testing. Design Verification and Test (DVT)
A significant element of any development program is testing. Design Verification and Test (DVT)
reports are developed testing each specification. Because of the complexities of the two formats, the
test plan for the DAT160 drive was much larger and longer than for previous generations of DAT. In
test plan for the DAT160 drive was much larger and longer than for previous generations of DAT. In
total 450,000 hours (more than 5 years) of testing were performed on the DAT160 drive before
release.
As mentioned in Question 4, the tape guide locking and tape guide angle parameters are critical to
As mentioned in Question 4, the tape guide locking and tape guide angle parameters are critical to
robust reliable interchange and low ERT, but these components are all inter-related so a strict process
of consolidating improvements and re-testing had to be adopted, which took time.
The diagram below illustrates this. When a multi-facet issue was found, individual teams worked on
of consolidating improvements and re-testing had to be adopted, which took time.
The diagram below illustrates this. When a multi-facet issue was found, individual teams worked on
the possible contributors to the issue. Changes were recommended reviewed and then consolidated
into a new design. The original tests were then re-run to ensure the issue was resolved satisfactorily.