[comp.sys.ibm.pc] Tape Drive Information Wanted

pv9y@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (O) (03/09/90)

    Hi All,
       I need to get some information on tape drive backup systems for
    the PC.  I have a bunch of XT and AT compatible PC (10 actually)
    clones and I want to get a tape drive backup system set up.  There
    are two possibilities.  First, just get an external tape drive and
    ten adapter cards and walk around to each machine to back it up. 
    Second, set up a Lantastic peer to peer network and have the tape
    drive sit at one station and back everything up over the network,
    preferably at night.  

       -Does anyone know if this is possibe with Lantastic at all, and if
    so, with which tape drives?

       -Can anyone recommend a certain brand of tape drive for price,
    reliability, technical support, good backup software, etc?

       -Is it possible to go from the first scenario to the second
    (with the network) without wasting money on unecessary hardware? 
    In other words, would the adapter cards necessary for the
    no-network backup be necessary for the network setup as well?

       -What is the best format tape to go with, DC-2000, DC-600, or
    something else?

       -How do the backup programs work as far as creating a backup or
    an archive?  ie, Do they erase files which have been erased from
    the hard disk and still do an incremental backup?  A full backup
    each time would be possible, but a bit of waste of time.

       -Can you recommend any mail order sources for these tape
    drives.  I have catalogs from JDR Microdevices and CompuAdd.

       -Is there anything else I should watch for when setting up this
    system?

       Thanks a lot, and I will of course post a summary of all the
    mail responses I get.

-- 
Adam C. Engst                                pv9y@vax5.cit.cornell.edu   
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