de5@STC06.CTD.ORNL.GOV (SILL D E) (07/07/90)
Which is a better backup device/medium for a heterogeneous network
including Suns, DECs, and various other workstations and minis?
How do they compare on:
-price of drives
-cost of tapes
-capacity
-reliability of drives
-reliability of recorded tapes
-speed of dumps and restores
-vendor and third party support
-driver availability
-ease of use
DEC seems to be pushing DAT's, and argues that they're inherently
better since they were designed to record digital data, whereas 8mm is
an analog video format.
Thanks in advance. Summary if warranted.
--
Dave Sill (de5@ornl.gov) These are my opinions.
Martin Marietta Energy Systems
Workstation Supportgary@dgcad.SV.DG.COM (Gary Bridgewater) (07/07/90)
In article <9007061713.AA01816@stc06.CTD.ORNL.GOV> de5@ornl.gov (Dave Sill) writes: >DEC seems to be pushing DAT's, and argues that they're inherently >better since they were designed to record digital data, whereas 8mm is >an analog video format. Why wasn't this sent to rec.humor.funny? This is the funniest thing I've seen on the net this year. Did someone actually say that? Digital Audio Tape was designed to record SOUND. But in any event - both use magnetic media to record flux changes based on whatever modulates them - in this case, it's your data. Who gives a Rat's A** what the technology is used for elsewhere? People on the net (including this site) are quite fond of their 8mm drives but they are all newish so there is little known about their long term functioning - compared to 9 track tapes for instance. DAT is even newer. The big questions are 1) can I get my data back after one or five years, 2) can I get it back if the tape is "bad" and 3) what does it take to make the tape go "bad". Minor questions are 1) does the interface let me do useful things like backup and space forward and put multiple images on the tape, 2) what does the media cost versus # of uses, 3) how easy is it to clean, maintain and 4) how fast does it backup data. Other questions might be 1) form factor and packaging, 2) vendor(s) and vendor support and 3) what sort of drives others in your organization/customer base have? -- Gary Bridgewater, Data General Corporation, Sunnyvale California gary@sv.dg.com or {amdahl,aeras,amdcad}!dgcad!gary C++ - it's the right thing to do.