esr@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Edward Roepe) (05/05/88)
I am currently in the process of buying a tape backup unit for my pc. I would like some advice on experiences that others have had with specific brands and models. Here are the specifications. IBM PC/XT with 30mb hard disk, 640k, dos 3.1 Price range: under 500 (discount) Internal unit (1/2 ht) preferred backup to be done on single tape (all 30mb) file-by-file and image capabilities incremental backup would be nice (optional) multiple volumes on single tape (optional) I have used the tecmar external unit with good success I am currently looking at units from mountain and everex Thanks in advance. Ed
davidsen@steinmetz.ge.com (William E. Davidsen Jr) (05/05/88)
In article <15357@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> esr@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Edward Roepe) writes: | I am currently in the process of buying a tape backup unit for my pc. | IBM PC/XT with 30mb hard disk, 640k, dos 3.1 | Price range: under 500 (discount) I think you're going to have to go Irwin. You will probably not get a cartrige system for what you want to pay. I *believe* that the models have 10,20, 40MB capacity and that the model you want is 145. It runs off the floppy controller, so you will only have one floppy. -- bill davidsen (wedu@ge-crd.arpa) {uunet | philabs | seismo}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
gsk@khaki.SGI.COM (George S. Kong) (05/06/88)
> | I am currently in the process of buying a tape backup unit for my pc. > > | IBM PC/XT with 30mb hard disk, 640k, dos 3.1 > | Price range: under 500 (discount) > > I think you're going to have to go Irwin. You will probably not get a > cartrige system for what you want to pay. I *believe* that the models > have 10,20, 40MB capacity and that the model you want is 145. consider the everex 60 meg cassette unit. it uses things that look just like audio cassettes, but are priced more like data cartridges. i've seen it for $519; you may find it cheaper. i haven't used one myself; i'd be interested in hearing from people who have. George S. Kong, Silicon Graphics, Inc., (415)962-3281 gsk@sgi.com ...{decwrl,allegra,sun,adobe,ucbvax,pyramid,ames}!sgi!gsk
rdr@ttrdc.UUCP (Bob Rindfuss) (05/06/88)
In article <15357@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU>, esr@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Edward Roepe) writes: > I am currently in the process of buying a tape backup unit for my pc. > I would like some advice on experiences that others have had with > specific brands and models. Here are the specifications. > > IBM PC/XT with 30mb hard disk, 640k, dos 3.1 > Price range: under 500 (discount) > Internal unit (1/2 ht) preferred > backup to be done on single tape (all 30mb) > file-by-file and image capabilities > incremental backup would be nice (optional) > multiple volumes on single tape (optional) > > I have used the tecmar external unit with good success > > I am currently looking at units from mountain and everex > > Thanks in advance. Ed I use the 40mb unit from Mountain. Does everything you asked for, except I'm not sure about DOS 3.1 (may need 3.2) or multiple volumes on a tape. It is that same as the various Irwin drives, which use your floppy controller as the interface into your system. Your floppy controller HW thinks it's drive B:. Their software does cutesy things like using a certain number of step pulses in a row to mean a certain command on the tape drive. Cute idea - saves a slot in your PC, but it's slow. If you get one of these, BE SURE one tape will hold your entire drive. I backup 32 Meg partitions and it takes about 40 minutes. So you want to be able to start a backup and let it run while you go to lunch/home. You DON'T want to have to change tapes in the middle of the operation. BTW, the price was good - $328 at a discount store, including SW. The tapes are not so cheap - ~$20 each. Bob Rindfuss ...ihnp4!ttrdc!rdr
timothym@tekigm2.TEK.COM (Timothy D Margeson) (05/07/88)
In article <10728@steinmetz.ge.com> davidsen@crdos1.UUCP (bill davidsen) writes: >| I am currently in the process of buying a tape backup unit for my pc. > >I think you're going to have to go Irwin. You will probably not get a >cartrige system for what you want to pay. I *believe* that the models >have 10,20, 40MB capacity and that the model you want is 145. Hi, To add my two cents worth. I just bought a 44 meg tape drive for $299.00 for an internal model. The external model is about $400.00. It is a Colorado Memory Systems, XR-4i or XR-4e tape drive. The software is good and the system is much quieter than the Irwin drives. It uses DC-2000 tapes, but is not QIC-40 compatible, but who cares unless you plan on shipping tapes to friends and lovers. The error hit rate for the drive is 1E12 for the 44 meg format, 1E13 for the 29 meg format, and 5E14 for the 22 meg format. This is nice since you can select which level of protection you can live with, but not real good compared with QIC-40, which yields 1E14 at 40 megs. But, 1 error in 1 mega- mega bytes isn't too bad. I can live with that (my Irwin I had was worse, and that was in a Compaq Deskpro too!). That backup rate is 1 meg/minute for an XT, and 2 meg/minute for an AT. The drive will allow you to have 4 floppy disks connected with the drive, but in this configuration you need the adaptor board ($90.00, and is included with the external drive). So, if you are curious where to get one, e-mail a request to me, or call a distributor listed here: (Sorry, no numbers, I'm at home, all my data is at work) Entertainment Marketing in Texas, they have an 800 number; Franklin Telecom in California, Bay Area; Or, call the manufacturer: Colorado Memory Systems, (303) 669-8000 - ask for Joe, or for a distributor name, since CMS doesn't sell to the public. Finally, they also have a QIC-40 tape drive coming out real soon now, so you may want to think about that too! -- Tim Margeson (206)253-5240 PO Box 3500 d/s C1-937 @@ 'Who said that?' Vancouver, WA. 98668 {amd..hplabs}cae780!tektronix!tekigm2!timothym (this changes daily)
quentin@umb.umb.edu (Quentin Fennessy) (05/10/88)
I have a friend who just asked me for advice on a program to manage a Tecmar 60 Meg tape backup unit. What he wants is an online database, so he can look up on which volume he has a specific file. The application is for backup of a LAN of 386/20's, specifically archiving the server's 300 meg disk. He would like the program to have some type of version control, so for each file, (Drawing; this is CAD) He should be able to have one copy of the latest version on tape at a time. I will summarize reviews to the net, so please email me responses. Thanks, Quentin Fennessy Bell Labs Andover Mass ihnp4!mvuxb!quentin University of Massachusetts, Boston quentin@umb.UUCP
leonard@bucket.UUCP (Leonard Erickson) (05/10/88)
In article <14696@sgi.SGI.COM> gsk@khaki.SGI.COM (George S. Kong) writes:
<consider the everex 60 meg cassette unit.
<it uses things that look just like audio cassettes,
<but are priced more like data cartridges.
<
<i've seen it for $519; you may find it cheaper.
<
<i haven't used one myself; i'd be interested in hearing
<from people who have.
We have several of these units (and amaybe a dozen of the older 20 meg units).
They work quite well, 4-5 meg/sec backup rates, easy to use software. Everex
Technical Support leaves a bit to be desired and the manual is far too skimpy
on details.
Note: if you need to backup hidden, system or read-only files you *must*
use the advanced user interface! You get no warning that such files are
skipped in the normal interface.
One nice feature is the ability to restore individual files from an IMAGE
backup.
The only problems we've had we're a couple of DOA units that were replaced
by our dealer and discovering (the hard way!) that Maxell's data cassettes
are *not* suitable for use with these units (tapes died on 2nd or third use).
--
Leonard Erickson ...!tektronix!reed!percival!bucket!leonard
CIS: [70465,203]
"I used to be a hacker. Now I'm a 'microcomputer specialist'.
You know... I'd rather be a hacker."