Backup solutions, why not...?

I gather that you guys recommend DLT tape solutions for=20
backup. Well, we need a new tape backup solution due to=20
the demise of Onstream. The problem is that I know what=20
my boss's reaction will be when I tell him the cost of a=20
DLT drive (=A3900 or more), it'll be short, rude, and=20
hazardous to my health. Why therefore do you guys not=20
recommend more amicably priced solutions such as:

DAT,
AIT,
Travan,
DDS.

If someone could give me a reason for each why it is not=20
desirable, I would be really grateful. If one of them is=20
desirable, even better.

Thanks in advance,

Colin.

Mark
Thu Jul 31 04:20:16 CDT 2003

Hi Colin,

I don't use any of them, I use Ecrix drives http://www.excrix.com I have
used them for a while now because they go and on and on. Price is also very
very good as well about AUD $2,000 for a 33/66 kit which includes 5 tapes as
well.

What I have found is that if you have a client with only say 14 GB of data
you use the 12/24 tapes, now if he increases the amount of data to over that
you use simply buy the next size tape. If you use the VXA-2 model [which
goes like a scolded cat] it can go up to 80/160 GB and the tapes can be read
in any Ecrix drive.

This is just my 2 cents, but I know that I will never go back to DAT or DLT,
I either use Ecrix for my smaller clients, or LTO for my larger.

I hope this helps.



"Colin Ferguson" <Colin@lost.help> wrote in message
news:08eb01c35743$29379640$a501280a@phx.gbl...
I gather that you guys recommend DLT tape solutions for
backup. Well, we need a new tape backup solution due to
the demise of Onstream. The problem is that I know what
my boss's reaction will be when I tell him the cost of a
DLT drive (£900 or more), it'll be short, rude, and
hazardous to my health. Why therefore do you guys not
recommend more amicably priced solutions such as:

DAT,
AIT,
Travan,
DDS.

If someone could give me a reason for each why it is not
desirable, I would be really grateful. If one of them is
desirable, even better.

Thanks in advance,

Colin.

Steve
Thu Jul 31 05:16:51 CDT 2003

Colin Ferguson wrote:

> I gather that you guys recommend DLT tape solutions for
> backup. Well, we need a new tape backup solution due to
> the demise of Onstream. The problem is that I know what
> my boss's reaction will be when I tell him the cost of a
> DLT drive (£900 or more), it'll be short, rude, and
> hazardous to my health. Why therefore do you guys not
> recommend more amicably priced solutions such as:
>
> DAT,
> AIT,
> Travan,
> DDS.
>
> If someone could give me a reason for each why it is not
> desirable, I would be really grateful. If one of them is
> desirable, even better.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Colin.

All of DLT, DAT/DDS (they're the same thing), AIT and OnStream/Ecrix
VXA tape technologies have been recommended here.

About the only thing that is generally agreed on is that Travan is
useless.

You also need to understand that DDS/DAT tops out at 20/40Gb (although
there is a higher capacity specification in the works), so if your disk
capacity is higher than that, DAT is of little use anyway. IIRC, VXA
tops out at 35/70Gb. Only DLT and AIT can go higher.

The primary advantage of DLT over AIT is multi-vendor support. Sony are
the sole maker of AIT drives (though it seems unlikely that Sony could
suffer the same fate as OnStream!).

Without knowing how much disk capacity you have or are planning to
have, it's difficult to make a recommendation...

--
Steve Foster [SBS MVP]
---------------------------------------
MVPs do not work for Microsoft. Please reply only to the newsgroups.

Colin
Thu Jul 31 05:31:05 CDT 2003

Thanks for that Mark. I am also tied to using Backup Exec=20
8.6, and tonly the VXA-1 drives appear to be on the=20
Veritas HCL. I take it you're referring to Exabyte drives=20
though?
>-----Original Message-----
>Hi Colin,
>
>I don't use any of them, I use Ecrix drives=20
http://www.excrix.com I have
>used them for a while now because they go and on and on. =20
Price is also very
>very good as well about AUD $2,000 for a 33/66 kit which=20
includes 5 tapes as
>well.
>
>What I have found is that if you have a client with only=20
say 14 GB of data
>you use the 12/24 tapes, now if he increases the amount=20
of data to over that
>you use simply buy the next size tape. If you use the=20
VXA-2 model [which
>goes like a scolded cat] it can go up to 80/160 GB and=20
the tapes can be read
>in any Ecrix drive.
>
>This is just my 2 cents, but I know that I will never go=20
back to DAT or DLT,
>I either use Ecrix for my smaller clients, or LTO for my=20
larger.
>
>I hope this helps.
>
>
>
>"Colin Ferguson" <Colin@lost.help> wrote in message
>news:08eb01c35743$29379640$a501280a@phx.gbl...
>I gather that you guys recommend DLT tape solutions for
>backup. Well, we need a new tape backup solution due to
>the demise of Onstream. The problem is that I know what
>my boss's reaction will be when I tell him the cost of a
>DLT drive (=A3900 or more), it'll be short, rude, and
>hazardous to my health. Why therefore do you guys not
>recommend more amicably priced solutions such as:
>
>DAT,
>AIT,
>Travan,
>DDS.
>
>If someone could give me a reason for each why it is not
>desirable, I would be really grateful. If one of them is
>desirable, even better.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>
>Colin.
>
>
>.
>

Mark
Thu Jul 31 05:34:19 CDT 2003

Not trying to be a smart arse Steve, :) the VXA-2 tops out at 160, but if
you meant the VXA-1, then that one peaks at 66 compressed :)

Have a good one !!

"Colin Ferguson" <Colin@lost.help> wrote in message
news:08eb01c35743$29379640$a501280a@phx.gbl...
I gather that you guys recommend DLT tape solutions for
backup. Well, we need a new tape backup solution due to
the demise of Onstream. The problem is that I know what
my boss's reaction will be when I tell him the cost of a
DLT drive (£900 or more), it'll be short, rude, and
hazardous to my health. Why therefore do you guys not
recommend more amicably priced solutions such as:

DAT,
AIT,
Travan,
DDS.

If someone could give me a reason for each why it is not
desirable, I would be really grateful. If one of them is
desirable, even better.

Thanks in advance,

Colin.

Steve
Thu Jul 31 05:40:26 CDT 2003

Mark McDonald wrote:

> Not trying to be a smart arse Steve, :) the VXA-2 tops out at 160,
> but if you meant the VXA-1, then that one peaks at 66 compressed :)
>
> Have a good one !!

I did say "IIRC"... Obviously I didn't, or it's been longer since I
looked at VXA than I thought!

--
Steve Foster [SBS MVP]
---------------------------------------
MVPs do not work for Microsoft. Please reply only to the newsgroups.

Mark
Thu Jul 31 05:42:06 CDT 2003

Hi Colin,

Yes, you are right, its the Exabyte drive and I use Veritas 8.6 also with no
problem.



"Colin Ferguson" <Colin@lost.help> wrote in message
news:08eb01c35743$29379640$a501280a@phx.gbl...
I gather that you guys recommend DLT tape solutions for
backup. Well, we need a new tape backup solution due to
the demise of Onstream. The problem is that I know what
my boss's reaction will be when I tell him the cost of a
DLT drive (£900 or more), it'll be short, rude, and
hazardous to my health. Why therefore do you guys not
recommend more amicably priced solutions such as:

DAT,
AIT,
Travan,
DDS.

If someone could give me a reason for each why it is not
desirable, I would be really grateful. If one of them is
desirable, even better.

Thanks in advance,

Colin.

Jeff
Thu Jul 31 07:47:25 CDT 2003

I'm also using VXA on a number of servers.

An interesting feature of the VXA is that you can use the VXA-2 drive to get
a higher capacity on VXA-1 tapes. By that I mean, if you (like some of my
customers) bought the VXA-1 drive with the maximum capacity tape it uses, it
would be a 33/66 capy. tape. If you then upgraded the drive to a VXA-2
(bought the new drive) you could continue to use the same tapes, but you
actually get something like 50% more capacity on the very same tapes! I had
a couple of customers who outgrew the capacity of their VXA1 but have
continued with the same tape sets. At some point, they will likely rotate
through to higher capacity cartridges as well.

I think DDS-3 and DDS-4 have a good track record if you are in the low
capacity side of things.

"Mark McDonald" <ueshibaau@nospammsn.com> wrote in message
news:e0QbjB1VDHA.2224@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Hi Colin,
>
> Yes, you are right, its the Exabyte drive and I use Veritas 8.6 also with
no
> problem.
>
>
>
> "Colin Ferguson" <Colin@lost.help> wrote in message
> news:08eb01c35743$29379640$a501280a@phx.gbl...
> I gather that you guys recommend DLT tape solutions for
> backup. Well, we need a new tape backup solution due to
> the demise of Onstream. The problem is that I know what
> my boss's reaction will be when I tell him the cost of a
> DLT drive (£900 or more), it'll be short, rude, and
> hazardous to my health. Why therefore do you guys not
> recommend more amicably priced solutions such as:
>
> DAT,
> AIT,
> Travan,
> DDS.
>
> If someone could give me a reason for each why it is not
> desirable, I would be really grateful. If one of them is
> desirable, even better.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Colin.
>
>

Mark
Thu Jul 31 19:55:48 CDT 2003

Colin,
Look DLT is tried and true. Lasts YEARS and NEVER fails. The most
reliable for the price. Second if you look on ebay you can get DEALS on
never or slightly used 40.80 drives. If you need more storage I would look
at Ultirum or archive your data.

--
Sincerely,
Mark Mancini, CCA, CCNA, Master CIW&CI, CNE 4&5, MCSE+I 4&2000
www.MCSE2000.com
www.AppLauncher.com



"Colin Ferguson" <Colin@lost.help> wrote in message
news:08eb01c35743$29379640$a501280a@phx.gbl...
I gather that you guys recommend DLT tape solutions for
backup. Well, we need a new tape backup solution due to
the demise of Onstream. The problem is that I know what
my boss's reaction will be when I tell him the cost of a
DLT drive (£900 or more), it'll be short, rude, and
hazardous to my health. Why therefore do you guys not
recommend more amicably priced solutions such as:

DAT,
AIT,
Travan,
DDS.

If someone could give me a reason for each why it is not
desirable, I would be really grateful. If one of them is
desirable, even better.

Thanks in advance,

Colin.