Backing up TB's worth of data

Cyber-Mav · 29 Sep 2019 at 14:52

Also depending how you need access to backups tapes dont work well at all with incremental backups. And its hecktic for restoring individual files from due to the slow access times.
Tape ideal for disaster recovery or long term archival storage.
E.g keep most recent server backups on a hdd and then the older images transport to tape.
Everyone moving to cloud these days. Think google offer 150tb for cheapo just need fast internet which thanks to cityfiber 900/900 connection is now more than feasible

Phil2008 · 29 Sep 2019 at 22:08

Its all depends what your backing up... For bits n bobs ie bootdrive and odd files, use a hdd or the cloud for easy access to the data. For large stuff that wont likely get accessed much, use tape.

Im using LTO2 200GB tapes now that I have the balk of my media backed up on the LTO3 tapes, as I only backup a few GB's each month. So 1 200gb tape lasts me ages before its full and the tapes are cheaper to buy.

Dont know if this is true but I read that google uses tape to backup?

Cyber-Mav · 30 Sep 2019 at 08:55

just had a look at the tape drives and from a value for money basis lto 5 seems to be the best place to start. lto6 just takes a serious jump in price over 5.

Skiddley · 30 Sep 2019 at 09:47

Phil2008 said:
Thats just stupid daft money to spend on something just for backing up your data

Isn't it entirely dependent on how much your data is worth?

Worth saying that I did come across a number of companies (typically the tape refurbishers) who offer drive rental. May make sense for anyone needing to backup, and shelve tapes infrequently.

Skiddley · 30 Sep 2019 at 09:58

Cyber-Mav said:
just had a look at the tape drives and from a value for money basis lto 5 seems to be the best place to start. lto6 just takes a serious jump in price over 5.

Agreed. Only LTO5+ support LTFS too.

Skiddley · 11 Oct 2019 at 19:30

Phil2008 · 11 Oct 2019 at 22:26

This is the report of my LTO3 Drive

IT Troll · 12 Oct 2019 at 00:45

I like the convenience of disk over tape. Makes it easy and quick to update/restore files as and when required. Disks can be easily attached and accessed on any system so there is no reliance on the presence of special hardware. 8TB costs around £125 now. However, to be extra save you need two in a RAID1 enclosure.

Skiddley · 14 Oct 2019 at 16:56

Phil2008 said:
This is the report of my LTO3 Drive

So I have my LTO-6 installed, working nicely. LTFS makes life easy.

@Phil2008 I see you have an outdated Firmware (as did mine). I have a link for a HPE package of firmwares, that includes one for yours, let me know if you want it. When I first searched, HPE had the firmware updates behind a paywall/requiring a valid support contract, but the link I found (oddly) is on the HPE site also, but doesn't require authentication. I compared the SHA hash with the one on the Support site and it was a match, so I upgraded mine at the weekend, worked perfectly

Mine has similar numbers to yours - 1,800 days, 33 power resets, 600 cart inserts.

For reference, I didn't need the (rare-as-hens-teeth) HPE cable, any SFF-8087 to SFF-8482 with SATA power passthru works. Seeing about 170MB/S read/write. 2.5TB in 4-5hrs. Running on an IT-mode flashed H220 HBA that cost me £22.

Phil2008 · 14 Oct 2019 at 23:56

yes thanks pop the update on dropbox, thanks.. When I first run the HPS tools, it says theirs a firmware but when I click download and install, nothing happens.. I bet a internal drive is very nice, I would have got a internal if my case had any bays. I bought a nice long 5meter SCSI cable, so the drive can be sat anywhere, so its not really in the way.

Phil2008 · 11 Nov 2019 at 15:25

Got my new 10tb WD Red today and just starting to copy all the media from the old 4tb hdd to the new 1.. From sata to USB3

Cyber-Mav · 11 Nov 2019 at 20:59

Usb3 makes backups a whole lot easier and faster. Cant wait for usb4 to come.

Also above im impressed with the speed of the lto6 drive. Tape has come a long way since the days of it being on my commodore 64.

Phil2008 · 11 Nov 2019 at 21:45

I remember when you could buy pci cards to backup you data to vhs, Im guessing they were shockley bad though for reliability

b00merang69 · 11 Nov 2019 at 22:03

^^ That is news to me, sound slow.

Phil2008 · 12 Nov 2019 at 00:37

b00merang69 said:
^^ That is news to me, sound slow.

Yeah, a friend lent it to me back in the windows95/98 days, I didnt use it though.

Skiddley · 13 Nov 2019 at 10:23

Phil2008 said:
I remember when you could buy pci cards to backup you data to vhs, Im guessing they were shockley bad though for reliability

I remember those! It was about 10MB/min as I recall.

Cyber-Mav · 15 Nov 2019 at 00:43

Hows the tape drive holding up?
Plenty of lto3 drives going for 25 quid with a 5 pack of tapes for a tenner.
Not bad for someone wanting to backup 400 gigs