Whither the ide-tape module

[Rick Stevens]

Bob McClure Jr wrote:
> On Mon, Feb 28, 2005 at 11:57:19AM -0800, Rick Stevens wrote:
> 
>>Bob McClure Jr wrote:
>>
>>>On Mon, Feb 28, 2005 at 11:13:31AM -0800, Rick Stevens wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Bob McClure Jr wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Or do I accelerate my plan to start backing up to DVDs?
>>>>
>>>>ide-tape is ancient and not particularly reliable.  DVDs are one option.
>>>>So are things such as DAT or DLT (if you like tape).
>>>
>>>
>>>I used to be.  Unfortunately, it seemed that I could buy expensive
>>>drives that used cheap tapes, or cheap drives that used expensive
>>>tapes.  Since the price has come way down on DVD (re)writers and
>>>media, I think I know where I'm headed.
>>
>>Yeah, DVDs are a good idea, except for the extra space needed to build
>>the DVD image before burning it.
> 
> 
> Umm, your next response mentions the low cost of disk drives. (Gotch
> last :-)

Well, yeah, you can put in another drive just to create the images, but
why not just back up to that drive instead?  I do.

Actually, I do "live" backups to firewire (instantly bootable), and due
to my "tinkering" (read: shooting myself in the foot occasionally), VERY
useful.

I do archival backups to DLT.  Once I have a week's worth of DLT tapes,
they get burned to DVD and put away.  The DLT tapes then get recycled.
Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they AREN'T out to get me!

>>>>At the current
>>>>cost of disk drives, an IEEE 1394 (firewire) or USB 2.0 enclosure and a
>>>>80GB drive make for a pretty cheap and reliable backup.  If you do it
>>>>right, you can even boot off it for emergency recovery.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>It would be a British understatement to say that I'm miffed.
>>>>
>>>>Again, VERY few people used ide-tape.  It's been termed "legacy" so it's
>>>>not a standard module any longer.  Installing the kernel source does
>>>>require a couple of extra steps and the reason for it is in the release
>>>>notes (you did read them, didn't you?).
>>>
>>>
>>>Yes, I usually do.  Must have missed any notes about the impending
>>>demise of ide-tape.
>>
>>The bit about the release notes was in regard to the demise of the
>>kernel-source RPMs and why you have to install the kernel source RPM and
>>do the rpmbuild on it.
> 
> 
> Oh.  Well, yeah, I saw that note.  That wasn't a surprise.  It was
> just that it complicated a possible solution to the surprising problem
> (disappearance of ide-tape).

Yeah.  But since I don't use ide-tape (well, once WAY back when the ice
sheets still covered most of North America), I never really noticed its
demise.  I fell into DEC's TK70s, then DAT, then DLT (TK70s on
steroids).

Heck, I even still have an old Kennedy 9-track that works (it last was
connected to a RH9 system via an Adaptec 2940).  Newbies freak out when
I fire that bad boy up!  Especially because the system used to play a
sound file when it saw that drive:

     "Greetings, Professor Falkin!  Would you like to play a game?"

Ah, memories!  Now, finding 9-track tape at a reasonable cost...that's
tough!
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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-           What is a "free" gift?  Aren't all gifts free?           -
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