[geeks] ive been converted

[Nick Kociuk]

> How many of you have worked with/seen/used/abused the optical disk
> jukebokes used for backups? You know, the ones which hold 20,000
> Write-Once laserdisk-sized platters and are guaranteed in-perpetuity
> and allow for life-time warm backups for a company or clandestine
> government agency. The platters cost $1,000 a piece, too.

i worked as an intern for a company that made those.  30gig media in 12"
form-factor, i think, and the media was something like $1k per disc.  a
single-disc drive retails for about $30k, though almost all their customers
buy in quantity, so they pay much less.  though the jukeboxes i saw only
held about 10 discs at a time (not quite 20k).  i think if you wanted more,
you just bought another drive and hooked it up to your scsi card.  fast wide
differential scsi.  very cool product, and a cool company to work for, too.