usb2.0 external hard drive has to be feasible. less than a $100 for 80gb. 
nominal 60MB/sec.
usb2.0\1394b external hard drive. less than $300 for 300 gb. nominal 
60MB\80MB/sec.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brett Johnson" <brett@...>
To: <gentoo-amd64@g.o>
Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 9:28 AM
Subject: Re: [gentoo-amd64] Re: initio seen, mt -f doesn't work


> On Mon, Dec 19, 2005 at 10:23:56AM +0000, Gavin Seddon wrote:
>> The Fedora is 2.4 kernel which I will migrate to today and if this
>> doesn't solve my probs. I will swap my scsi controller.  If I remove my
>> tape, what should I do with it?  (don't be rude)
>>
>> I have been obsessed with backups since the time when I lost 2/3 of a
>> book and had to spend eternity recreating.  Any 'better' removable
>> storage device suggestions are welcome.  Bearing in mind it needs to
>> hold ~15Gb and a removable hd isn't feasible.
>>  Gav.
>
> I am not sure what you're saying about migrating and removing the tape.
> If you mean you're going to install Fedora (2.4 kernel), then I would
> assume your tape drive will work fine. It appears that your scsi card is
> not fully supported in the 2.5/2.6 kernel.
>
> If you're looking for alternate solutions to use with gentoo/2.6 kernel,
> then I would suggest investing in a new scsi card. The tape drive and
> cable should be fine (assuming proper maintenance of the tape drive).
>
> I personally have moved away from tape for smaller data sets ( < 100GB
> ), as tape has some issues. First, you need to keep the tape head clean
> and second tape media  has a limited useful life span. I have been
> burned a couple times by defective tape media in a restore situation.
>
> If an external hard drive is out, how about removeable hard drives?
> Remeber, the point of a backup is just to keep the data in multiple
> places. You can easily add a removeable drive cage to a system and
> purchase a couple extra caddy's. This way you can alternate between 2
> or 3 removable hard drives for backup devices. Some removeable trays
> support key locks, in case you're worried about physical security.
>
> The method I use is the dar program in conjunction with cdrecord-prodvd.
> I create a full backup monthly, then create a weekly incremental against
> the full backup, and then daily backups against the weekly. This method
> only requires me to burn multiple dvd's once a month (as my monthly
> backup is in excess of 20GB). After that, I get away with one extra dvd
> per month (ymmv). For a recovery scenario, I may have to go through
> multiple restores to bring the system current, but thats a trade off I
> make to save on media.
>
> Those are just a few ideas. There are many other ways to backup data. I
> believe there is even an online service you can sign up for, and back up
> to their servers. IIRC you pay by the backup size in 10GB increments.
>
> Backup solutions are unique to each enviroment and use.
> Things to consider are; hard costs of backup hardware and media, time
> required to perform backup and does data have to be taken offline, ease
> and automation of backup, time required to restore data, ease and
> automation of restore, and physical storage of backup media (it doesn't
> do you any good to keep all your backups in the same building as the data
> if the building burns down). I am sure there are other factors too, this
> is just to give you an idea of things to think about when trying to
> come up with a new backup solution.
>
> Brett
> -- 
> gentoo-amd64@g.o mailing list
>
> 

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