Re: tape or hard drive?
This is from the pdf product info file I downloaded from Sony last year before we bought our drive DDS-4 drives provide full backward compatibility with the ability to read write to DDS-3, DDS-2 and DDS-1 tapes. While enabling tape sizes (and costs) to be matched to the backup job, DDS-4 provides an easy upgrade path. Not only is it possible to move up from one format to another but also to operate in mixed environments. Hope that helps. Adrian Smith I'll check this out later today. matt barkdull wrote: I don't think the DDS-3 drives will read the DDS-1 tapes, but will read the DDS-2. Basically this means they are one step backward compatible. DDS-3 will read/write DDS-2 DDS-2 will read/write DDS-1 DDS-1 cannot read/write DDS-2 DDS-2 cannot read/write DDS-3 -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Search: http://www.mail-archive.com/retro-talk%40latchkey.com/ For urgent issues, please contact Dantz technical support directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 925.253.3050. -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Search: http://www.mail-archive.com/retro-talk%40latchkey.com/ For urgent issues, please contact Dantz technical support directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 925.253.3050.
Re: tape or hard drive?
I don't think the DDS-3 drives will read the DDS-1 tapes, but will read the DDS-2. Basically this means they are one step backward compatible. DDS-3 will read/write DDS-2 DDS-2 will read/write DDS-1 DDS-1 cannot read/write DDS-2 DDS-2 cannot read/write DDS-3 DavidRoss wrote: I like the HP DDS/DAT drives. thanks for the info on this ... Sounds like these could fit in as a part of my overall multi-faceted backup system (I think I want a USB disc, too). Now, can you tell me: Someone else informed me of the DDS-1 -2 -3 breakdowns and the different megs the tapes handled. My question: will one drive accept ALL THREE tapes, or does each tape have to be used with ts own drive? thanks, David - - ilyes -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Search: http://www.mail-archive.com/retro-talk%40latchkey.com/ For urgent issues, please contact Dantz technical support directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 925.253.3050.
Re: tape or hard drive?
I like the HP DDS/DAT drives. thanks for the info on this ... Sounds like these could fit in as a part of my overall multi-faceted backup system (I think I want a USB disc, too). Now, can you tell me: Someone else informed me of the DDS-1 -2 -3 breakdowns and the different megs the tapes handled. My question: will one drive accept ALL THREE tapes, or does each tape have to be used with ts own drive? DDS-1 will read DDS-1 DDS-2 will read DDS-2 and DDS-1 DDS-3 will read DDS-3 and DDS-2 and DDS-1 and so on. The early DDS and DDS-DC drives tended to be a bit balky about reading anything including the ones they wrote. Tape drives are mechanical and at their core they move a piece of flimsy plastic at incredible speeds over a polished metal surface. And they have to do it very accurately time after time after time. They will wear out. Or the power supply will go bad. Until I switched to HP units I figured on tossing a drive and starting over after a couple of years. HP has a program where you can sign up for an extended warranty for $45 to $60 per year. If you have a bad drive you get a replacement. And the interesting thing is the HP units don't fail as often as other brands I've dealt with. Want to make a tape drive fail? 1. Ignore dust and grit. Make sure you leave it out while they replaster the office next door. 2. Don't put any power protection on the drive. After all why would the power company supply bad power. 3. Leave your tapes in the sun lit window. Or better yet in the back of the car. You get the picture. I like HP DDS for the type of offices I deal with. Currently I support a mix of DDS-1 and DDS-3 with one DDS-2 about to be retired. Over all the HP units work great. But I do have a large collection of Sony DDS-2 drives that I think are bad due to the APS cases they sit in. When I need more storage I'll likely go with AIT, Mammoth, or VXA. VXA is new and looks neat but I need something with more time under it's belt. It's web site has some interesting movies but they don't tell me much. -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Search: http://www.mail-archive.com/retro-talk%40latchkey.com/ For urgent issues, please contact Dantz technical support directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 925.253.3050.
Re: tape or hard drive?
I'll check this out later today. matt barkdull wrote: I don't think the DDS-3 drives will read the DDS-1 tapes, but will read the DDS-2. Basically this means they are one step backward compatible. DDS-3 will read/write DDS-2 DDS-2 will read/write DDS-1 DDS-1 cannot read/write DDS-2 DDS-2 cannot read/write DDS-3 -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Search: http://www.mail-archive.com/retro-talk%40latchkey.com/ For urgent issues, please contact Dantz technical support directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 925.253.3050.
Re: tape or hard drive?
Hi David, Thanks for your comments. You raise some very valid issues, but I probably wasn't verbose enough to adequately describe my strategy. on 23/2/01 7:51 PM, David Ross at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The major problem with using a disk drive duplication backup strategy is that it leaves a lot of holes. 1. You're w/o a backup while the current one is running. So if things die during the backup Agreed, but I don't duplicate ... I use a combination of recycle and normal backups. The act of recycle will erase the previous backup, but I will come to that. After the recycle the rest of the week is normals so it adds to the backup set ... it does not replace it. You may recall that I size my second drive to hold a full backup plus a week of incrementals. 2. You can't go back in time to get a file that you didn't notice was missing or corrupted till after the last backup. Within the week I can as I do the recycle on Sunday, then nightly incrementals. On Saturday night I backup the "backup" disk to tape so I can store the previous weeks backups off site. This is done before the disk based backup set is recycled. 3. Destruction of the primary system has a good chance of destroying the backup drive. Agreed, but I never said that they were on the same machine ... in most of my installations the backup disk and tape drive are in the "Backup Server" ... the "source" is elsewhere on the network. In a single machine situation both disks might be be destroyed but a connected tape drive will likely suffer the same fate. The key is to do backups and do them often. I find changing media a pain ... my strategy is based on the desire to do daily backups, but to only change removeable media weekly. Cheers, Malcolm -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Search: http://www.mail-archive.com/retro-talk%40latchkey.com/ For urgent issues, please contact Dantz technical support directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 925.253.3050.
Re: tape or hard drive?
DavidRoss wrote: I like the HP DDS/DAT drives. thanks for the info on this ... Sounds like these could fit in as a part of my overall multi-faceted backup system (I think I want a USB disc, too). Now, can you tell me: Someone else informed me of the DDS-1 -2 -3 breakdowns and the different megs the tapes handled. My question: will one drive accept ALL THREE tapes, or does each tape have to be used with ts own drive? thanks, David - - ilyes -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Search: http://www.mail-archive.com/retro-talk%40latchkey.com/ For urgent issues, please contact Dantz technical support directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 925.253.3050.
Re: tape or hard drive?
At 10:52 AM -0500 02/21/2001, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Should I go with a tape system for backing up, or stick with a hd? I've always found it more affordable to do multiple backups to tape instead of convincing others to purchase multiple HDs. Stephen K. Suh __ Network Admin Tel 613/228-0250 SCG Studio Colour Group Inc. Fax 613/228-0254 6 Gurdwara Road, Suite 105 Ottawa, ON K2E 8A3 Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Search: http://www.mail-archive.com/retro-talk%40latchkey.com/ For urgent issues, please contact Dantz technical support directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 925.253.3050.
Re: tape or hard drive?
I personally would get a buslink USB hard drive (or two or howevermany you need.) I might get some flack for suggesting this but It works great and its cheaper than tape. You also never have to change a tape. The only thing to be leary about is its extention. being yet another 3rd party extention it might not play well with some. I have tested this in two different situations and it works great. We backup maybe 60 gigs just about every day. This translates to 48 or so gigs (after 2 months) with Retros compression on. My next step is to impliment another one of these drives and start a rotating backup scheme so I can keep a copy off site. ( if anyone has a step by step for this I'd appreciate it. ) This single Hard Drive has been backing up for about two months and can probably go for about another month before I will have to either re-write it or switch to another HD. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I've been using an external SCSI hd for my backups for over a year, and all has been going swimmingly -- 'til a few days ago when I inadvertently shut off the external before the system had properly shut it down. The 'wrapper' and a couple of places on the 'extent' files were blown, damaged beyond fixing. I urgently need a replacement. Now that I have the option, my dilemma is: Should I go with a tape system for backing up, or stick with a hd? How long does a tape last before it gets stretched, or worn beyond useability? I'm using a G4/400/9.0.4 ... a single user, not on any network. Would very much appreciate any and all feedback from yr personal experience re: 1) tape or hd, and 2) specifically WCH tape system y'all are most satisfied with, as I've never used one before. Retrospect is TERRIFIC, and so at least ONE part of my solution is already in place. TIA, -- Donovan D. Brooke Systems Administrator/ Assc. Art Director Epsen Hillmer Graphics "When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not, hm?" -Yoda
Re: tape or hard drive?
on 22/2/01 2:52 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Should I go with a tape system for backing up, or stick with a hd? Not really an easy question to answer because selecting appropriate media depends a lot on how much data needs to be backed up. Personally I like to use both. My general strategy is to have a 2nd disk with sufficient capacity to hold a full backup and a week of nightly incrementals. At the end of the week I do a backup to tape then recycle the disk based storage sets. I cycle the tapes off site. Depending on the capacity of the tape, the end of week tape may be a full backup or it may be a backup of the backup disk. In developing a backup strategy its always a compromise between cost and potential to lose data. Cheers, Malcolm -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Search: http://www.mail-archive.com/retro-talk%40latchkey.com/ For urgent issues, please contact Dantz technical support directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 925.253.3050.
Re: tape or hard drive?
Hey Erik, your point about the "...6months ago..." is true!. This is why we have elected to get yet another USB drive when it comes to it. The 3rd drive will always be an old back-up. 3 drives will cost us $1200.00. We think this will provide the security we need and still for less cost than tape. However, its a pretty ambiguous decision. ie...Firetape is $800 and each tape is $250 (from pre-release article) Tapes are 50 gigs as apposed to the HD's being 60. I think you get one free tape with the Firetape. So, it would cost a total of almost $1600 (4 tapes) which would give you a bit more space. A little cheaper to go with HD's... but not much. Erik Ableson wrote: Back to the list after a long absence - the only issue with hard drive solutions is that they are not complete backup solutions since if anything truly disastrous happens (theft, fire etc) all your data is in one place. Multiple HD's rotated off-site will take care of this but in the long run, tape becomes cheaper when you start keeping redundant copies - and they've saved my bacon a few times! Combining them makes for the best of both worlds in terms of data security with a local HD mirror for the quick accidental delete/system crash restores, and tape to handle the long term issues - "umm that project I worked on 6 months ago is gone". Plus having tapes around gives you a nice archival option to free up disk space.. Cheers, ErikFeeling desperately insecure since he isn't following his own advice at home :) - Original Message - From:Donovan Brooke To: retro-talk Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2001 5:04 PM Subject: Re: tape or hard drive? I personally would get a[snip] Donovan
Re: tape or hard drive?
thanks very much for taking the time to share yr backup strategy with me, Malcom -- excellent ideas, since I basically have had no overall efficient strategy myself! i like yr idea of using a disc for increments, then weekly backing to tape. I'll also do off-site storage for one backup set this time, too. many thanks, - ilyes PS: I know there are many hi-end tape drives out there, but d'you know of a reliable one in the $300-range? -- "One who knows the secret of Sound knows the Mystery of the Universe." -- Hazrat Inayat Khan -- -- To subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives:http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/ Search: http://www.mail-archive.com/retro-talk%40latchkey.com/ For urgent issues, please contact Dantz technical support directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 925.253.3050.
