Hi Michael,
Where to shop for anything seems to be a pretty loaded question. I would
start with whomever your hardware vendors are, then shop around to see who has
what for what price. Compare things like hw support, RMA policies,
re-stocking fees etc.
Obviously, for a tape drive, you first need to decide what kind you want
before you shop around. What you need is going to be quite dependant upon
how much you want to back up, how often, how reliable you want the backups to
be and for how long, how much you've budgeted for the hardware and for the
recurring costs of things like tapes and cleaning cartridges.
I prefer DLT because it has a pretty high capacity, it's got a good
reputation, a lot of people are using it, so drivers and knowledge are easily
obtainable, and I've got experience with it. I back up a lot of data, so
an autochanger was a must for me (especially since I'm lazy :)
Other people don't see the need for a changer, others are happy with DDS
formats, and some can't afford DLT, so must use something less.
I guess I'd recommend deciding what you need for capacity, and then
researching what types of devices fit that need for you. Once you have that,
it might be a little easier for us to recommend a particular brand or
something based on your criteria.
I hope that helps. Oh, btw, I buy most of my data through a VAR called
TechData, for what that's worth :)
--
Seeya,
Paul
----
It may look like I'm just sitting here doing nothing,
but I'm really actively waiting for all my problems to go away.
If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right!
