On 07/23/2017 05:51 PM, Henry Bond via cctalk wrote: > I have need to make backups, and if you are going to do something, do it the > proper way. Feel like I'm preaching to the choir here mind. > > My issue is finding tape to fit any drive I might buy or choosing an > appropriate tape library device which has tape available to purchase with > relative ease. > > Any pointers, suggestions or anecdotes as always is most appreciated.
The good news is that there has been an ANSI standard for SCSI tape devices for a long time. There have been many tape formats that have gone in and out of fashion. In the late 80s and early 90s, 8mm videotape-type Exabyte carts were very popular--when have you last seen one? DDS hasn't been "DAT" for a very long time--and pretty much, after DDS-4, has been the province of HP. Given that HP has canceled furture development after DAT 320, I'd consider it to be an obsolescent medium. DLT has been around since the TK50, with DLT-S4A being the latest (2007) version. It's quite rugged and used by a bunch of people. LTO is by far the most popular tape medium and future improvements are scheduled. LTO has one interesting feature (since LTO-3): a WORM cartridge as an option--that is, it's write once, read many times. Regardless, plan to regenerate your backup data every 10-15 years if you want to avoid running a dinosaur farm. FWIW, --Chuck
