[ale] Backup strategies

[Pat Regan]

Chris Fowler wrote:
> Chris Kleeschulte wrote:
>>
>> I am not crazy about using tapes or having a service come and gather 
>> the tapes.
>>
> Why are people so against tapes?  It is cost?  Is it sequential access 
> to data?

My biggest problem with tape is the the rarity of tape drives.  If you
only have 500 gig of data to backup then buying that first tape drive is
likely a pretty big expense for your IT department.  If that is already
the case it will be very difficult to buy a second drive to store at
another location.

If disaster strikes where I live there are no local vendors who sell
tape drives.

At 500 gig, you can buy a machine full of enough disks to store your
backups off-site for less than the cost of the second tape drive.

> It has been a long time since I used tapes.  The primary reason, is that 
> I just don't have that much data to backup.    

For backing up small amounts of data I have become a HUGE fan of flash.
 I've had a pretty good confidence level ever since I put an old CF card
through the washer and dryer in my pocket.  They are durable, shock
resistant, and heat resistant.

As with any media, never trust only having a single backup :).

Pat

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
Url : http://mail.ale.org/pipermail/ale/attachments/20080912/50b40a14/attachment.bin