Need to decide between a HDD and Tape backup - which is more beneficial and pratical ??

[jazzhound]

Basically my objective is to backup my Mp3s, Movies, Software, etc. It's well over 40GB and I'm either going to get another 60GH harddrive or a tape system to back it up. Mainly it's cluttering up my system but the information is needed at a later time. Should I go and get a HDD or maybe a tape back up ? The price difference is really not very comparable, since the tape system is quite abit more about 1/3.. and the extra HDD would be nice for flexibility, scalability and possibly used in another system old/new later down the road.

One question about Tape (DAT) backup system is I was wondering whether or not these are pratical as an extra drive in your system. I.e would it be pratical and sufficient to read/write information to/from the DAT in real time much like the HDD/FD/CDR ???


Thanx

 

[Mitzi]

If cost is no object go with the tape drive! The new ones are very fast and more future proof than a hard drive - when you need more space you can just buy more tapes, in 2 years a 40Gb backup hard drive will seem pretty limited. Besides, that backup hard drive won?t save your data when your machine gets beer spilt over it/gets hit by lightning!

I personally cannot afford a decent DAT tape drive so I'm stuck with backing up to CDs (my current backup takes about 8 CDs)

 

[jazzhound]

Some links for my curiosity?

I just don't know how fast the tape drives spin at, and would that make it sufficient enough to use to read files like a hdd would. I'm leaning towards the tape drive myself because of the reasons you said. HDD seems to be very risky and potential disaster.

Price is somewhat of a concern, but the tape system is very attractive. What size do they come in ? I've seen some tapes that are 40GB but they must take forever to save.

 

[Migroo]

From personal experience, any backup harddrive will not end up being used for its purpose.. then again it can be used in the future as a hard drive.

I'd say Tape Backup. I have been backing up (this last weekend) my system, files, My Documents (argh... 1.96 Gb!!), Movies, MP3s (not too bad)... I have used about 20 CDs. My HD is 30 Gb btw. Its in preperation for a format (ditching Win98) and installing Win2000.

Its such a laborious process, and its so much easier to backup to one or 2 tapes. Just think of it in the form of backing up everything to one or CDs... mmm tasty..

What do you think? HP have some good drives We use one at work. Its not slow, and of course, not cheap. You get what you pay for though.

edit: HP storage home Linky for you.

 

[Goosemaster]

http://www.ecrix.com/ would be my recommendation. THey are very inexpensive incomparison with other tapebackup devices, and can stand the test of time, and even being duncked in coffee!

Seriously though, takebackup for you is o9verkill. It is expensive,and not exceedingly fast regardless of what I said.

For some reason their main page referer is down..go to http://www.ecrix.com/products/


As you can see, their VXA-1 is an extremely beautiful drive. Unfortunately, it gets 3-6MB/s ,and for that price, it does not look like a reasonable offer for your situation.THis is mainly designed for sys admins who leave it backing up overnight, not that I wouldn't recommend you do the same...too much of a wait otherwise.

My recommendation would be another HD.


It is cheap, and it is very fast. The tape solution is certainly easy, but why not spend the $1000 on something more worthwhile such as upgrading your pc or PAYING YOUR CHILD SUPPORT ..just kidding. As of now, I have 100GB that I need to keep on my computer. For backup of the critical data, i just resort to using another drive...and cdrs of course.

 

[dj4005]

I suppose I'll be the lone voice of dissension.

Over the years, I've gone through 3 different tape formats. None have been particularly reliable. None have been particularly fast.

So - I decided that the better solution would be a HD. I bolted it into one of the removeable tray jobs for the purpose of 'off-machine' storage and use Norton's Ghost to do the actual backup routines.

After a half-dozen aborted attempt to install XP, I have REALLY come to appreciate just how fast and easy it is to restore an entire system. The first time I used such a system to retrieve a lost or corrupted files, I appreciated what system would accomplish.

I also got an additional benefit that might not be of interest to most people. As my system is a RAID based one, I worried about trying to find an exact dupe of my RAID drives should one fail. With the HD being a dupe, I now have another drive ready to bolt into place should one fail.

I know that my solution denies me the possibility of multiple generations of backup, but who outside the corporate world REALLY does that anyway?

Just one more alternative...

 

[Goosemaster]

tape is still t3empting sometimes....


Imagine doing this to an IBM 75GXP..It probably would die before the tests...


MAMAMIA!!


Once again, I still vote for the Hd because it is cheaper and faster for your intended purpose.