Advanced Software Concepts NetArchive

Installation and configuration were long, arduous tasks of editing system configuration files and typing additions out of the installation manual. A simple script could have taken care of all of that work. For instance, modifications for supporting our Exabyte drive's hardware compression were in the manual. One wonders why they couldn't have been pasted into a script?

Advanced Software Concepts did include some useful graphical tools, but they overlooked some basic problems. The graphical tools rely on the Motif shared libraries, which are not included in SunOS. A simple compile that statically links the libraries to the binaries would eliminate even more work for the administrator.

Looking past the difficulties in installing and configuring the software, NetArchive has less to offer than any other solution we tested. Although the basics are there, many features, such as off-line media, are missing (although this is coming). NetArchive is only able to manage MOs that are currently in the jukebox, which dramatically increases the cost of jukebox ownership, since the cost per disk space goes down with each platter you add to the pool.

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