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From: kientzle@netcom.com
Subject: Finding Reliable DAT Drives
Message-ID: <kientzleE8v0Ly.5zp@netcom.com>
Organization: Netcom
Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 00:41:58 GMT
Lines: 38
Sender: kientzle@netcom8.netcom.com
Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:39338
About six months ago, I picked up an old surplus WangDAT 1300 DAT
drive, installed it and set up weekly backups. I'm pretty pleased
with the overall setup, but....
* I've recently noticed that 2 out of 3 backups are failing to
verify.
This is a bit scary, especially since I had a (fortunately minor)
hard disk hiccup last week, and I had to go back pretty far to
find a backup tape that could restore the lost files.
I know that Joerg is pretty pessimistic about DAT in general, but I'm
already invested in DAT, and haven't seen any other really viable
alternatives for me:
* I prefer SCSI (floppy-interface stuff is just too scary;
I don't expect FreeBSD to support ATAPI or parallel tape
drives anytime soon; I'm a bit squeamish about custom
interfaces)
* I need something in the 2gig range (I don't have time
to baby-sit weekly backups; it has to fit on one tape).
* DLT drives are way out of my budget.
* I've seen a couple of SCSI QIC drives that come close;
are they really any better? (They're no cheaper once you
factor in the $30 tapes)
* Speed is a complete non-issue; I'm perfectly happy to run
backups overnight.
Can anyone comment on DAT reliability? Is 2 out of 3 failed backups
something I'm likely to see with a new drive? Does anyone know a good
source of new or high-quality used/surplus DAT drives? (I've noticed
several Mac vendors selling new bare DDS-2 drives for around $800,
which is more than I'd like to pay, but not outrageously so.)
I'll consider non-DAT drives if someone has something they
can really recommend.
- Tim Kientzle