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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.mira.net.au!vic.news.telstra.net!act.news.telstra.net!imci3!imci2!news.internetMCI.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!piglet.cc.utexas.edu!not-for-mail From: nichols@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Stewart Nichols) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: Tape Backup Options Date: 15 May 1996 10:26:03 -0500 Organization: The University of Texas at Austin Lines: 29 Message-ID: <4nct2b$9c5@piglet.cc.utexas.edu> References: <4n5l94$rqq@csugrad.cs.vt.edu> <4nb2d0$20d@uriah.heep.sax.de> NNTP-Posting-Host: piglet.cc.utexas.edu In article <4nb2d0$20d@uriah.heep.sax.de>, J Wunsch <joerg_wunsch@uriah.heep.sax.de> wrote: >Even DAT is called crap by many people... Not by me. I've been using various DAT (DDS) drives since 1991 with exactly zero (0) failures during that time period. I have only used drives from DEC (currently the TLZ06), and I use mostly name-brand tapes. I am currently trying out some off-brand tapes and have had no problems so far. Ninety meter tapes are cheap - about $8.00, and even less in quantity. ***** At home I use a DEC TK50 cartridge drive with a SCSI interface that I got at a computer show for $15.00, including a pile of cartridges. It only holds 90meg, but that is sufficient for backing up the non-distribution material on my system. If I have a crash I can re-install FreeBSD, then restore the /home, /etc, /usr/local, and /usr/ports trees and I'm done. You should be wary of old drives like the TK50, however. Parts are hard to get, and the cartridges are expensive, about $20.00. I have since aquired two ESDI versions of the drive to use for spare parts when that becomes necessary - and it will be become necessary, due to the large number of moving parts in the drive. $15.00 was just about the right price for such a tape drive. stu