Very Computer

>What's a "moderate" amount of data?  In general, I would recommend against
>Travan -- the tapes are expensive, the drives are slow, and they get very
>hot.  For about $1200 you could get an Exabyte Eliant 820 -- 7GB native on
>cheap ($3-4) tapes.

>What's a "moderate" amount of data?  In general, I would recommend against

> I'm setting up a relatively low volume RH 7 mailserver for someone.  I'm
> interested in users' recommendations regarding compatible tape backup
> systems and backup software.  Travan, DAT, DLT?  Which would you recommend.

>As far as backup software goes, I want something relatively easy to use, but
>flexible and reliable.  The user is experienced with SCO Unix, but doesn't
>want to spend all of his time learning and executing commands.  I'd like
>something that will allow him to easily configure scheduled backups with a
>minimum of effort.

>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

> >As far as backup software goes, I want something relatively easy to use,
but
> >flexible and reliable.  The user is experienced with SCO Unix, but
doesn't
> >want to spend all of his time learning and executing commands.  I'd like
> >something that will allow him to easily configure scheduled backups with
a
> >minimum of effort.

> >Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

> You may want to consider a DVD-RAM drive.  About the same price as a
Travan
> drive of similar capacity, but you (theoretically) can mount the device,
> and get far better access to individual files.  Media costs are lower,
too,
> and will probably get cheaper with time.  There are ATAPI (IDE) and SCSI
> versions.  You can also use many of these to generate bootable CDROMs
which
> could serve as an emergency boot/restore device.  The only question
involves
> drivers/kernel compatibility.

> > I'm setting up a relatively low volume RH 7 mailserver for someone.  I'm
> > interested in users' recommendations regarding compatible tape backup
> > systems and backup software.  Travan, DAT, DLT?  Which would you
recommend.

> I use a SCSI Travan tape (the entire suse 6.2 i on a scsi advansys)
> and it goes fine, sure the tapes are not cheap, but they are robust
> against e.g. dat.
> 3 gigaByte approx in 1 hour or so, using tar.

> >>Travan -- the tapes are expensive, the drives are slow, and they get
very
> >>hot.  For about $1200 you could get an Exabyte Eliant 820 -- 7GB native
on
> >>cheap ($3-4) tapes.

> > You see the problem here is that's nearly six times the price of an
> > EIDE Travan drive.  It's tough to sell the price difference,
> > especially when the customer's needs are so small.

> Well, at least go with a SCSI Travan and a cheap UltraSCSI card (an
> Adaptec 2930 is ~$90).  Backups are *important*, and I would never
> willingly trust them to IDE.

> Also, keep in mind that if you want to do archiving, your tape costs
> are going to start rising very quickly with Travan.

>> >I'm setting up a relatively low volume RH 7 mailserver for someone.  I'm
>> >interested in users' recommendations regarding compatible tape backup
>> >systems and backup software.  Travan, DAT, DLT?  Which would you
>recommend.
>> >I don't want to spend a lot of money, but I want something which will
>> >efficiently back up a moderate amount of data.

>> >As far as backup software goes, I want something relatively easy to use,
>but
>> >flexible and reliable.  The user is experienced with SCO Unix, but
>doesn't
>> >want to spend all of his time learning and executing commands.  I'd like
>> >something that will allow him to easily configure scheduled backups with
>a
>> >minimum of effort.

>> >Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

>> You may want to consider a DVD-RAM drive.  About the same price as a
>Travan
>> drive of similar capacity, but you (theoretically) can mount the device,
>> and get far better access to individual files.  Media costs are lower,
>too,
>> and will probably get cheaper with time.  There are ATAPI (IDE) and SCSI
>> versions.  You can also use many of these to generate bootable CDROMs
>which
>> could serve as an emergency boot/restore device.  The only question
>involves
>> drivers/kernel compatibility.

>The last time I looked, DVD-RAM drives were something like $2000.  What are
>they running now?  A decent Travan drive runs in the $200-$300 range these
>days.

>Got any more information?  I'm interested.