Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!gatech!ncsuvx!mcnc!ecsvax!uncmed!pekin!theroo
From: theroo@pekin.med.unc.edu (Bron D. Skinner Ph.D.)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Disaster with a tape drive...HELP!!!
Keywords: tape backup systems
Message-ID: <517@uncmed.med.unc.edu>
Date: 8 Sep 89 17:40:00 GMT
References: <1989Aug31.104848.11605@cs.dal.ca> <3566@rtech.rtech.com>
Sender: news@uncmed.med.unc.edu
Reply-To: theroo@uncmed.med.unc.edu (Bron D. Skinner Ph.D.)
Distribution: comp
Organization: UNC-CH School of Medicine
Lines: 28

It is interesting to hear that others have had difficulties as described
by these individuals using Alloy tape backup systems.  We have had similar
experiences with a couple of Genoa cassette type backup units.  What
should be a relatively straight forward process taking no longer than
10-20 minutes to backup a 20 MB hard disk can turn out to be a 1-2 hour
process with no guarantees that there will be success in the end.  We have
experienced all the tape write errors described, the slowness of the
system in retensioning and rewinding and so on.  The slowness would be
acceptable if the reliability of writing out the data were better.  We
have just about given up using these systems entirely and are moving to
trying to backup data only with either a backup program or DOS BACKUP.

Our organization is planning for the installation of a network
installation in a new building for next spring.  Part of the network
design includes a tape backup unit on the server.  But I am not very
confident that this will give us the kind of security we really want to
have for our programs and data.  Tape units could become expensive ways to
backup if the mean time between failure is as low as this discussion would
tend to indicate it is.

I would be interested in how others are handling this issue.  
Are there reliable units?  Does reliability get better on higher capacity
tape backup systems (60MB plus)?  Are there alternatives which are about
equal in cost, but which yield better reliability?

Bron D. Skinner, Ph.D.  Coordinator, Information Systems
Department of Family Medicine, UNC-CH
theroo@med.unc.edu