pjcrump at bitstream.net wrote:
> I have a friend of mine who has a choice of 2 different tape drives to use for
> backups w/ linux (RH Server), he has either a LT 20/40 drive or an
> LTO 100/200 drive.  The question is which one should he use (and why).
> Also, any suggestions for OpenSrc backup utils?

can't comment on the drive choice but as far as backup software I prefer
tar and dump.  They're simple and they just work.  I have a home brew
script that I run that calls dump(8) to dump filesystems to disk over
and NFS mount.  Then once/wk I tar the /backup directory out to a DDS-2
tape.  I'm only backing up a couple systems at home but this works for
me and is simple to administer.

I've used Amanda for a past employer.  It works but is very complicated
to setup.  It has some advantages that it will try to stream to tapes
and maximize space on each tape, etc, but there's a downside:

Server A just crash, which backup tape has the last full backup from
which I can restore the entire system quickly?  With Amanda, (at least
in the setup we had, where it maximized tape space), the various
filesystems from Server A where put on many tapes and at many different
places on those tapes, depending on what day each filesystem was backed
up.  To me, this would be an administrative nightmare if I ever had to
do a complete restore of a system.

that's my $0.02.
-- 
scot

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