sek@sword (Spencer Kantor) (06/09/89)
We're looking for recommendations for high-speed backup systems for Macs. We have two scenarios which we're seeking suggestions; 1- A backup system (most likely tape of some sort) for a dedicated file server. The server will have a single 160Mb disk with the possibility of additional disks added later. We're looking for a system which preferably will backup a full disk to a single tape, can accomodate partial incremental backups on a single tape, is easily installable, and (probably most importantly) has reliable and compatible restoral procedures. We'd be interested in specific product recommendations as well as pros/cons of each. 2- The second scenario involves a backup system for owners of individual Macs. We have about 50 Mac II's of which 90%+ are directly connected to our ethernet LAN. We also have adequate spare disk storage on several Sun and Pyramid computers. Since we don't want our Mac file server to be primarily a system that people use for backups, we're exploring ways of using our spare Sun/Pyramid disk capacity as a means backing up individual Macs. Obviously we need some sort of bridging device (i.e. a Cayman Gatorbox) but our questions are; -is anyone currently using systems such as Suns/Pyramids to provide a backup facility for Macs? -what system is being used (i.e. Gatorbox, TOPS, etc)? -is there an easy user interface (otherwise we fear users won't take advantage of it)? -how reliable is the system; particularly in the area of file restoral? Can a user easily recover a file/folder from the backup system and is the recovered file in the same format as the original (we've seen cases where a file is garbled during transmission)? -how fast can backups be performed? Again, specific product recommendations with pros/cons of each would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Spencer Kantor bellcore!nvuxr!sek sek@sword.bellcore.com