From: Ugo Bellavance ugob@camo-route.com

I don't really know, but you could get a pretty cheap NAS with a gigabit nic to do your backups instead of using USB/Firewire.

And then attach any tape or other media library to that.

There is this farce out there among sysadmins that they have to do backups to tape or other media in "real-time" during a time-limited "window." No, no, no, no, NO!

REALITY: You only need to send the data in real-time during the window to a "buffering" system that actually then commits it to tape or other media at _any_ time it chooses.

BONUSES: - I can send just a "differential" to that system, instead of a full filesystem dump (even if I want a "full" backup ;-). - I can restore from that "near-line" system whenever I want (assuming it is still on-line) - many others ...

This is what has now evolved into the concept of a "virtual tape library." A near-line storage device that buffers between end systems that have limited backup windows and the tape (or other media) you may or may not need to always commit to.

Be sure to get 2005 September Sys Admin. ;->

-- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org