Mounting HP7970e 9-Trk 1/2" Tape Drive

[Chuck Guzis]

On 2/6/19 10:09 AM, Jay West wrote:

> I have not looked at my 7970's in quite some time, but I had thought the
> previous discussion was for mounting the 7970's in an HP rack. Not all later
> HP racks, but the 2 or 3 series that were predominant around the time of the
> 7970's, had a very specific build related to positioning of the holes (which
> were actually a few sliding metal bars with tapped holes, not just holes all
> up and down the rack). The 7970 mounting bracket was designed for that 'odd'
> HP-way the racks were built at that time (they changed later). I do not
> think that an HP rack called a "storage array" (obviously much later
> production) would have the same hole (and more importantly, the channels
> around the bars) pattern. Long story short, I am not positive that mounting
> the 7970 in a non-HP  or HP but non-period rack would work 100% as
> originally intended. It may stay in the rack, but there could be some
> positional/operational issues.

The HP disk array rack is a pretty standard 19" EIA rack, with some
extra slots for mounting the disk drive slides.

Looking at the 7970, without the mounting kit, it's a standard 19" wide.
 The right side flange has holes for mounting; the left side (the side
with the support hinges for the works) has a similar flange, but without
holes.  Since mounting holes on an 19" rack are 18" apart, I could see
where just boring a couple of holes in the hinge-side flange and
countersinking them for flathead bolts would work to secure the drive.
On the DA cabinet, however, the side "skins" project about an inch
forward of the mounting rails, so you'd probably have to remove one to
get clearance to open the drive up for servicing.   On the other hand, a
"naked" rack would probably work just fine.

My Fujitsu drive was new when I got it and so came with its own mounting
slides.  Still is a heavy bugger, though.

--Chuck