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Purpose
During the month of December, 1996, StorageExpress™ system customers on record with Intel® were notified by letter that the last date on which they may purchase the StorageExpress II system products and accessories would be March 21, 1997. The notification also stated that Intel would offer certain service and support for the StorageExpress I system products up to May 31, 1997, and up to December 31, 1999 for StorageExpress™ II system products. This document seeks to clarify Intel's position regarding support for tape drives used in the StorageExpress I and II systems.
Q1. Which tape drives will be supported in StorageExpress™ systems, and for how long?
A1. The Exabyte 8200 tape drives sold by Intel have not been supported since May of 1995. The Exabyte 8500 and 8500C, and the HP DDS-1 tape drives, sold by Intel for the StorageExpress I systems, will continue to be supported until May 31, 1998. The Exabyte 8505XL, HP DDS-2, HP DDS-2 autochanger, and Quantum DLT 4000, sold by Intel for the StorageExpress II systems, will be supported until December 31, 1999.
Q2. Can I use different types of tape drives in my StorageExpress™ system than what Intel has sold?
A2. StorageExpress™ systems running software version 1.6 or below have not been tested to support tape drives in their system other than those sold by Intel. StorageExpress II system software version 2.0 is based on Cheyenne Software ARCserve* 6 backup software, which supports a variety of 3rd party tape drives. Cheyenne Software publishes a list of tape drives that Cheyenne has qualified as ones which work with the ARCserve 6 backup software. Intel has only tested ARCserve 6 with those tape drives sold in connection to the StorageExpress II system. Accordingly, StorageExpress II system customers installing other tape drives into their systems do so at their own risk. Additionally, the terms and conditions of the Hardware Maintenance Agreement apply only to the Storage Express systems that are identified in the HMA.
Q3. Will my tape drives still be supported if I remove them from my StorageExpress™ system and use them in a non-Intel back-up application?
A3. All tape drives purchased by Intel are intended to be used in the StorageExpress product. Customers that remove tape drives from the StorageExpress system and use them in a non-Intel , alternative back-up application, do so at their own risk. The product warranty does not cover, for example, products that have been damaged by misuse. Also, the terms and conditions of the Hardware Maintenance Agreement apply only to Storage Express systems that are identified in the HMA. Nonetheless, if a customer removes a tape drive (sold by Intel in connection with a Storage Express System) and uses it in an alternative application which renders the drive non-functional, the customer may choose to have their non-functioning tape drives repaired through Intel for a fee, or they can contact their local reseller for suggestions on 3rd party tape drive repair services Should a customer decide to use the Intel repair service, a Customer Service representative will submit a repair request to the Intel repair center for the tape drive. Cost quotes to the customer will reflect out of warranty repair and delivery rates. The customer will be required to pay for the repair prior to receiving the repaired product.
Tape drives going through this process will be repaired and returned to the customer reconfigured as a standard tape drive sold through Intel. Any changes (e.g. firmware) which the customer performed to the drive will be lost in the course of the repair.
All tape drives repaired through Intel will have a limited 90 day warranty++, which will apply only if the repaired tape drive is used in a supported configuration of the StorageExpress system.
Any tape drive shipped to Intel that was not sold by Intel, will be promptly shipped back to the customer at their expense.
++ The limited 90 day warranty for repaired tapes drives includes repair or replacement of these tape drives if they fail within the first 90 days of the repair.
This applies to:
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