[Nottingham] About tape backups...

[Martin]

Danny King wrote:
[---]
> server. Tape backup sounds the most practical way to do this but i
> have a few questions:

At the risk of holy war:


> How much would a tape drive (and tapes) cost?

Lots per GByte and time.


> How difficult is it to get one (and tapes)?

Easy if no cost concerns.


> Are they very hard to setup?

Been in use since the dawn of electronic computers, so you might say 
that tape backup is well supported (:-))


As for alternatives:

CD-R, CD-RW, DVD(+/-)R, ok for very short term and if your data fits on 
them. Very low cost initial outlay.

And then there are the various external HDDs with USB2 interfaces. Very 
cheap per GByte and very convenient. You also get random access to 
whatever data you put on there. Easy and good.

Don't try HDD 'caddies'. All the home PC ones I've seen have been far 
too fragile, unreliable, and run the HDD very HOT.


Come along to Rob's desaster talk part 2 (;-))

(Asbestos at the ready (:-))
Martin

-- 
----------------
Martin Lomas
martin at ml1.co.uk
----------------