Jon Ribbens wrote:
> 
> We need a tape backup device for our NetBSD 1.1/i386 installation.
> It looks like we have a choice between SCSI and floppy-interface
> drives. I would've thought that a floppy-interface drive would be
> easier, but looking at the NetBSD projects page I'm not sure if
> these are supported.
> 
> Which sort should we buy? Does anyone have any experience of
> any particular makes/models working well with NetBSD 1.1?

If you can afford them, get yourself a SCSI-based drive. FTs should
be supportable in netbsd-1.1 by porting the freebsd ft driver, but
it is extremely immature, and is not worth the hassle. Even if (when)
NetBSD supports fts, an st is the way to go, because fts require the
control of the machine to do their constant 1M and 2M DMA access,
and they can really kill the performance of a machine. They don't
consume all the power, but they consume a good chunk.

STs, on the other hand, don't have the problem with latencies, and they
are very usable. They generally have a method of error-correction
built onto the drive, which the fts don't have. If the machine is
to be a network backup station, then you should definitely sway toward
scsi.

The netbsd kernel also supports the old archive/wangtek qic-02 drives.
I'm not sure about their availability or utility these days.

-John