On Oct 28, 12:24pm, Sean Doran wrote:
}
} Um if we are redesigning backup stuff, I have a question.
} 
} Should backups be tape-focused, or considered a form of
} remote long-term stable storage?

     Tape, most definitely.  That is the most economical and reliable
media on which to do backups.  Nothing else really makes sense.

} Personally, the reasons I've used backups are, in order of frequency:
} 
} 	-- accidentally nuking a file that was important
} 	-- needing back an old version of a file that has been unlinked
}            in the past
} 	-- moving files off a disk, repartitioning, and moving them back on
} 	-- replacing a dying disk that tended to crash and corrupt files
} 	   with all the fun of figuring out which files were corrupted
} 
} finding older versions of files fast is nice.   A colleague and I
} have been spoiled by IBM's ADSM for a while, and so mostly are
} looking at ways to make backups to a large RAID array, which then

     This is about the most expensive way of doing it.  It also isn't
very reliable in the grand scheme of things (consider what would
happen if there was a fire in your machine room; RAID arrays aren't
very amenable to off-site storage).

}-- End of excerpt from Sean Doran