[aclug-L] Re: SCSI tape drive recommendation

[Ryan Claycamp <claycamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John Goerzen wrote:
> 
> Ryan Claycamp <claycamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> 
> > I tried to send this yesterday afternoon, but it bounced.  I will try
> > again and hope it gets through.
> 
> If you could, please forward a copy of the bounce notice to me so.
> Thanks.
> 

Sorry, but I had deleted the message.

> > My company needs a SCSI tape drive, since our old one died.  It should
> > store at least 10 GB, although our server space might grow soon.  Does
> > anyone have some suggestions for a good SCSI tape drive?  The server is
> > running Linux.  I am assuming that this is the best way to backup data.
> > Is it?
> 
> I have an Exabyte 8700LT drive that I am very happy with.  It uses
> either 5 or 7 gb native (10 or 14gb compressed) tapes, and I think it
> would fit the bill.  It's cheap because it comes without software --
> Linux already has software.  It is SCSI so you'll need a SCSI card.
> 
> Tape backup may or may not be the best solution for you, depending on
> your needs.  The advantage of tape -- at least the *good* tape -- is
> that the tapes are cheap.  For instance, a 10 gig tape for this drive
> costs about $6.  This makes them good for a lot of backup uses and
> makes it economical to archive data as well.  Further, they are very
> reliable and technologies like Exabyte 8mm or the 4mm DAT drives have
> excellent track-records.  (AVOID QIC drives, Ditto drives, etc.)
> 
> The downsides are that tape drives are slow compared to hard drives,
> and if you frequently need to restore a file or two from a backup, it
> can take awhile as the drive has to wind the tape to the location of
> the file.  The other downside is that tapes can only be read on other
> drives using the same kind of tape -- they're not commonplace like
> cd-rom drives.  On the other hand, a CD-R can only hold 650MB of data.
> 

Hopefully we won't have to restore that often.  It is mainly for nightly
backups, periodic backups of the workstations, off-site storage, etc. 
Speed probably won't be factor as it will be unattended backups at
night.  We have Jaz and Zip drives for transferring large files between
people.  The tape backup will be internal use only.

The old drive was a 4mm DAT drive.  What is the difference between 4mm
and 8mm?

Ryan
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