[NTLUG:Discuss] recommendations for tape drive

[Chris Cox]

Greg Edwards wrote:
> Chris Cox wrote:
> 
>>
>> I've been deploying a lot of OnStream drives.  Get the SC50 if you don't
>> have much depth inside your case... the ADR50 if you do have some room.
>> These are the older drives and can be had for $200-300.  As the name
>> implies these hold 50G (compressed).  ADR tapes are not as easy
>> to find, but you can get the 50G tapes for $50 each if you hunt a bit.
>> I started purchasing OnStream when I saw their active Linux support
>> and the fact they're about the only people who have a USB solution
>> (which I needed for portability).
>>
> 
> Chris,
> 
> What backup tools would you recommend for the SC50?  I've got my SC50 
> installed but I haven't tried to do any backups yet and I'm considering 
> BRU.  I don't need a networked solution so their low end workstation 
> solution would work for me.  I run staggered cron jobs from my hosts to 
> move data to my backup server now.  I just need a solution that will 
> move the data to tape unattended and allow a manual recovery.

I don't have any preference.  I've never found a backup utility that
I truly like.  I usually make my own.  If bru works for you.. I don't 
think there is anything "wrong" with bru.

Lately, I've been preferring a disk cached solution with archival
to tape.  That way the users can quickly perform their own restores
of individual files or directories.  Logical volume snapshots
are used for the daily incrementals (using LVM).  We use rsync
to move data from the servers to the online disk cache.  Using
mtx (for robotic tape units) and cpio, we take the weekly master backup
off of the cache to tape.  We use this solution to handle terabytes of
data... overkill for small users.

So for me, just the simple commands.  Cron tasks are nice (and some of
our backups are manged this way), but can be
a problem when going to the same tape unit (when things don't happen
as scheduled).  I prefer a single controlling program so that I know
everything is happening sequentially.