I received my Ecrix VXA drive earlier this week and finally got it up and
running Thursday afternoon. Fortunately one of the items I'd added to my
SuperMac S900 was an E100 card, which provides 100Base-T ethernet and a
fast-wide SCSI port.
Unfortunately, the VXA drive ships with a data tape, a cleaning tape, a
power cord, a terminator, a copy of Retrospect, but no SCSI cable.
CompUSA didn't have anything in stock, but I stopped by a local computer
shop on the way home -- the necessary 68-pin (computer end) to 50-pin
SCSI cable was in stock at $32, probably less than CompUSA would have
charged.
Until now, my only backups at home were sporadic and used Zip disks. Top
speed was 47 MB/min.
Using the VXA drive, I've had speeds of 115.3 to 150.7 MB/min. for the
initial backup of the various partitions and drives in my S900.
This compares nicely with our backup server at work, a Blue G3/300 with
AIT. Backup speeds go as high as 207.3 MB/min. from the local drive using
fast-wide SCSI. (The VXA drive is only fast, not wide.)
I have a Retrospect Client 10-pack on order from Outpost.com (one of the
best prices, and it includes overnight shipping). I'll see how that
compares to network backup here at work, but have to keep in mind that
work is mostly 100Base-T switched ethernet while home is a shared
bandwidth 10Base-T hub.
Overall, I'm impressed with the VXA drive. I can understand it not
shipping with a SCSI cable, since there are so many possibilities, but
which that had been clear when I ordered it. The drive is large and
finished in gray and white to complement the G4.
Dan Knight, information systems manager [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Baker Book House Company <http://www.bakerbooks.com>
6030 East Fulton 616-676-9185 x146
Ada, Michigan 49301 fax 616-676-9573
- Macintosh: Love bug resistant, always Y2K ready
--
----------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Archives: <http://list.working-dogs.com/lists/retro-talk/>
Problems?: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
