# Tape BackUp v External Hard Drive BackUp?



## helixcs (Feb 17, 2006)

Dear All,

Our LTO2 200/400 internal backup drive has gone **** and the cost of a replacement is shocking

We used Backup Exec 10d.

1. What are the main advantages of tape over external HDD backup?

2. If we use ext HDD, whats is the best approach?

3. Is Backup Exec 10d up to the job of backing up to Ext HDD's

Thanks for any help and assistance you can give.

Cheers

EN4


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

Tape drives can be more dependable over the long run.
You can compensate by using an external RAID enclosure
and run 2 hard drives in the case in a mirrored array.
It will look to your computer like it is just 1 hard drive,but
the second drive will be an exact copy of the first one in
case one of the drives fail.
Here are some external raid cases.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007705&IsNodeId=1&srchInDesc=raid&page=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20
If you constantly fill up tapes,then you may want to look into a hot swap case
so drives can be changed and stored.
With the large size of drives available,if you are just doing backups,it 
shouldn't be an issue.
If you want the drives on at all times,get a case with built in cooling.

I'm not familiar with backup exec's funtionallity.
Most backup utilities today are capable of using external drives
as the destination drive.


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

I would use neither, online backups are the way to go. You can and should also supplement it with some sort of local backup. Backup Exec 12 does offer an online storage solution through their software.


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## PK-her0 (Sep 17, 2007)

hi rockn, wouldnt it depend on the amount of data that needs to be backed up and also helixcs connection speed / infrastructure?

helixcs i asked myself the same question a few months ago for tape vs hdd backup

what worried me about hard drive is what if someone gets in and erases the drives
i have my tape drive eject the tape so it is out of reach from intruders
also certain viruses could get on those drives...well i guess not so much if you using a a program like backup exec that compresses and makes a file...if you just copy across raw (files etc) then certain viruses could get on the drive and upset files like i seen in the past...

its all very interesting...see what other more experienced users than myself have to say...


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## srhoades (May 15, 2003)

I would use Acronis for making complete image backups to a NAS (RAID 1 or 5) and an online backup (which acronis also does now as well) for everyday files/documents.

A good NAS will have locking doors and with the correct permissions you don't have to worry about someone erasing it. Also, since all it needs is a network connection and power, you can put it somewhere inconspicuous.


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## PK-her0 (Sep 17, 2007)

awesome!!! is it difficult to configure? does it work with AD? hey srhoades would it also work over a vpn...i need to do this in the near future...about 300GB of data needs to go from an office to a bosses house...would NAS befit this? they are not as expensive as they used to be either are they?


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## karlhaywood (Jan 17, 2010)

Why take the data from the office to the bosses house? If you use the NAS Drive you can leave it at the office and the boss can use FTP to connect to the drive from home and access all the files and folders. They are so easy to setup and very secure.

I use my NAS as a dedicated server with a MySql database on there i have probably 20 users in different locations connected to the drive, the upload speed is great. I have no problems with it at all.

Check this one out, it also works as a client in an active directory domain

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/189996?utm_source=google&utm_medium=products


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## srhoades (May 15, 2003)

I like the Netgear ReadyNAS products. It has X raid which means it supports adding disks on the fly and will automatically increase the size of the RAID once all the disks have been replaced with larger disks.


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## PK-her0 (Sep 17, 2007)

hi karl i think you forgetting a few factors...theft and fire!!! thats why i want it off site...


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

The reason to take it off site would be an extra layer of protection, not to give the boss access to the files. I have used Acronis for offsite backup and it seems to work well. It does matter what you want to go offsite as far as mission critical data. Who cares if someone's personal pictures get blown out or not backed up. To an offsite backup I would only vault mission critical stuff...period.


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