Xref: utzoo comp.sys.ibm.pc:54229 comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:328
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!convex!harper
From: harper@convex.com (David Harper)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Tape Backup?
Message-ID: <104088@convex.convex.com>
Date: 19 Jul 90 13:39:59 GMT
References: <4334@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov>
Sender: news@convex.com
Followup-To: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Organization: Convex Computer Corporation; Richardson, TX
Lines: 51

In article <4334@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov> baalke@mars.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke) writes:
>I am thinking of getting a tape backup to backup my hard disk on my PC, and
>would like to know what kind of experiences that people have had with their
>systems.  Specifically,
> 
>     o Which brand of tape backup do you have?
	I use the Mountain Computer floppy based internal tape backup. I  
	have been told that it will work in conjunction with a floppy drive B 
	that is already installed.  This requires a special floppy cable that 
	has three connectors on it.  (I have a secondary floppy controller
	installed so I have a dedicated port for the drive).

>     o How long does it take to do a full backup?
	Backup speed is about 2 Meg/minute for a locally attached hard drive.
	I also have two additional computers attached with an ARCNET LAN (using
	Western Digitals ViaNet O.S.) and backing up those drives over the net
	drops the speed to around 250K/minute.

>     o What is the cost?
	Around $300 depending on the mail order house.
		
>     o How much can you store on a single tape?
	40 Meg (DC2000).
		
>     o Is any compression used, and if so, how much compression is done?
	No. I don't know if they offer compression on newer versions of the
	software or not.

>     o Have you verified the integrity of the backup?
	Yes, many times - I've never lost any data although I've had my share
	of disk crashes over the years.  I have successfully reloaded data 
	that was written > 4 years ago.

>     o Which software do you use to do the backup?
	The drive comes with the backup software.  This will allow you to 
	format the tape, do an image or file by file backup/restore, etc.

>     o Any problems with it?
	The only problems that I have ever had seem to be the tapes themselves.
	Every once in a while I will get a box and it seems that every tape
	in the box has trouble formatting (usually the software aborts after
	an excessive number of bad sectors).  I have never had a vendor give
	me any problems on exchanging a bad box of tapes.

>     o Would you recommend the tape backup that you have?
	Absolutely.


Dave Harper    -     Convex Computer Corp.            E-mail address:
3000 Waterview Pky.  Richardson, TX 75081             harper@convex.COM
(214) 497-4525 (W)   (214) 727-4206 (H)