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I have a normal PC... I'd love some kind of external tape drive that I can connect with USB-C, or USB-3... But everything is SAS? And no way to convert SAS t

I have a normal PC... I'd love some kind of external tape drive that I can connect with USB-C, or USB-3... But everything is SAS? And no way to convert SAS to SATA? Recommendations?

8fingerlouie 7mo ago
No recommendations, just brings back memories of the “good old days” with QIC-80 tapes and ZIP drives, both of which came with “desktop” in mind. I still have a ZIP drive around with a parallel port connector. I haven’t owned a computer with a parallel port in 20+ years. I probably also have a QIC-80 tape drive around somewhere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter-inch_cartridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter-inch_cartridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zip_drive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zip_drive
- bombcar 7mo ago
  SLR100 for life!
- sowbug 7mo ago
  It would be neat if someone resurrected Iomega and launched the 2026 version of the Zip drive for local backup. It'd be something like $200 (same as the original Zip drive) and it would take 20TB WORM tapes that cost $20 each. There would be some kind of horrible limitation, like it would take 2 months 24/7 to actually write 20TB, but it would come with simple software that rapaciously grabbed your whole cloud life and local data, and the tapes would last forever. I just looked, and iomega.com seems to be some kind of malware site. Sad.
UltraSane 7mo ago
The cheapest option is to get a SAS pcie card and a new drive like https://www.ebay.com/itm/198052084090 https://www.ebay.com/itm/198052084090 or try a much cheaper used drive. LTO drives are expensive but they are very well designed and it is the most reliable portable storage format available. Full LTO tapes in a good fire rated safe really provide a fantastic sense of security. The cost of the drive is amortized over the total bytes you store.
- ted_dunning 7mo ago
  Those tapes in a fire rated safe give a sense of security before the fire. After the fire, it is likely that the tapes and the papers in the safe are a pile of ash. Fire-rated safes often don't survive fires especially if you live in wildfire country.
  - UltraSane 7mo ago
    I mean a UL 72 Class 125 rated safe or file cabinet with a 2-hour fire endurance rating
aidenn0 7mo ago
No recommendations, but you can get a thunderbolt to SAS adapter; they aren't cheap though.
geocar 7mo ago
Try searching for thunderbolt lto. I know MagStor has one with usb-c presentation.

I have a normal PC... I'd love some kind of external tape drive that I can connect with USB-C, or USB-3... But everything is SAS? And no way to convert SAS to SATA? Recommendations?

8fingerlouie 7mo ago

No recommendations, just brings back memories of the “good old days” with QIC-80 tapes and ZIP drives, both of which came with “desktop” in mind. I still have a ZIP drive around with a parallel port connector. I haven’t owned a computer with a parallel port in 20+ years. I probably also have a QIC-80 tape drive around somewhere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter-inch_cartridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter-inch_cartridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zip_drive https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zip_drive

bombcar 7mo ago
SLR100 for life!
sowbug 7mo ago
It would be neat if someone resurrected Iomega and launched the 2026 version of the Zip drive for local backup. It'd be something like $200 (same as the original Zip drive) and it would take 20TB WORM tapes that cost $20 each. There would be some kind of horrible limitation, like it would take 2 months 24/7 to actually write 20TB, but it would come with simple software that rapaciously grabbed your whole cloud life and local data, and the tapes would last forever. I just looked, and iomega.com seems to be some kind of malware site. Sad.

UltraSane 7mo ago

The cheapest option is to get a SAS pcie card and a new drive like https://www.ebay.com/itm/198052084090 https://www.ebay.com/itm/198052084090 or try a much cheaper used drive. LTO drives are expensive but they are very well designed and it is the most reliable portable storage format available. Full LTO tapes in a good fire rated safe really provide a fantastic sense of security. The cost of the drive is amortized over the total bytes you store.

ted_dunning 7mo ago
Those tapes in a fire rated safe give a sense of security before the fire. After the fire, it is likely that the tapes and the papers in the safe are a pile of ash. Fire-rated safes often don't survive fires especially if you live in wildfire country.
- UltraSane 7mo ago
  I mean a UL 72 Class 125 rated safe or file cabinet with a 2-hour fire endurance rating

aidenn0 7mo ago

No recommendations, but you can get a thunderbolt to SAS adapter; they aren't cheap though.

geocar 7mo ago

Try searching for thunderbolt lto. I know MagStor has one with usb-c presentation.