#Backup info please
7 messages in this thread
I am looking to buy some sort of backup device with a 2 Gig
or higher capacity.
The terms DAT and 8 mm have been bantered about and I was told
that DAT seems to be comeing out on top.
Could some one please advise me as to format, manufacturer, performance
and media preferances?
I will be using a GVP series 2 SCSI board until some one has a
SCSI 2 interface to offer.
As to the snack bracket ….I would like to be under $2000 for the
drive and would like to see the media less than $50 a crack.
Thankz………………………John Lees
Call APS (found in the back of most Mac & IBM mags), and order an Archive
DAT Backup drive with Hardware data comression. It'll cost between
$1200-1600 (1200 = no Hdw data compression) for an external SCSI unit. The
media will cost around $15-20 for 2.2GB of backup.
I've used several DAT drives, and they work just great. Fast too!
Erik Flom
If you are looking for a SCSI DAT drive under $2000, well would you
believe that you can get an (up to) _8_GB_ DAT drive for that price?
Where, you ask dubiously? A company called NCA Peripherials in SunnyVale,
CA. Like a fool, I lost their number, but 1-408-555-1212 will give you the
number. They may also have a 1-800 number, but I'll have to get that from
work.
All their DAT drives are external units, and you will want to specify
either "drive only" or "Mac drive" so that they don't try to tack on
another $150 for a PC SCSI card.
// Brian — Cruising on AutoPilot…..
\X/
Well it depends what you want, I have both a 4mm DAT 2.0 gig and an
exabyte 8mm 8200 2.2gig. 4mm media is about $17 8mm is about $13
The 4mm tape is A LOT smaller, and it also partitions the tape info,
meaning the tapes "knows" what it has on it, it dosen't have the scan
the whole tape to see. Most DATS in your price range are about
10mb/min backup speed.
The 8mm is made at ONLY ONE place….exabyte, so if plan to send you
backups out you know that they will ba able to read your tape (a
problem with 4mm because of all the different makers). And the 8200
is 14mb/min backup speed. The other 8mm is the exabyte 8500 it can
hols about 5gig. It rights twice as dense as the 8200 thus backup
speed is 28mb/min. There are alot less 8500 out there then 8200 BUT
the 8500 is backwards compatible. I use the 8mm the most, but the
lack of a partition is a pain and the settling time is disgusting.
Hope you don't mind me jumping in here.
Does anyone know anything about Video Backup System (VBS)? It's
advertised by Manta as a $100 software/hardware backup system that uses a
VCR. How fast is it? Reliable? Can I use my 8 mm camcorder as a VCR, or
does it have to be VHS? (It makes a difference, because I've only got one
VCR, and it's in the living room, but the camcorder's portable.
Steve
Steve,
with any Video backup system you can use just about any VCR as long as
it's got a decent picture quality. If the VBS comes with Cinch type plugs
you just connect them to your CamCorder's Video In/Out sockets and away
you go. Generally vbs's are quite reliable (yet it IS recommended you do a
verify after backup, though, to e on the safe side…).
Generally you should clean your video heads (cleaning cassette) before any
backup and use the best tape quality you can afford – cheap tapes will
almost certainly produce errors/data loss.
Speedwise your standard vbs will go about as fast as a floppy (about one
meg per minute) but you just start it and don't have to swap disks (which
is a real pain in the you-know-what for 120megs like I have…). Thus it's
a good idea to just start it up before going to bed and in the morning
it's all done!
A year ago some German company (now DataSave) started advertising
their so-called "VideoStreamer" is is basically the same as the other
vbs's around but with a few vital differences: it does up to 4megs
per minute, is (said to be) absolutely safe (well, as safe as any
tape streamer) and comes with a hardware for the parallel port that
doesn't have to be disconnected (automatic activation via the
software) and software for PC, Amiga, Atari ST or Macintosh. That was
the good news. The bad news is, due to incompatibilities with several
PC's they had to redesign the hardware (I was told the Amiga software
had been completed by then but had to be changed when/if the PC
problems would have been solved. That was at the November 1992 WOC in
Frankfurt. On request the company told me February 93 as release
date, in Feb 93 they told me Amiga development (1 programmer) would
resume in March and completion was said to be mid-June (i.e. NOW). I
called them this week and I was told by a (PC) sales person that he
didn't know if the Amiga/ST software was ever to be done as his boss
said the Amiga market was not viable to develop for. He knew nothing
of the former Amiga development and wasn't interested as he knew only
PCs and the PC version (now fully working) was selling like hotcakes
(do say that in US?). Maybe some people out there who own not only
Amigas (I have a PC, too) would care to send them a few words to get
them to finish the other software? I most certainly will! Their
(German) address is:
Datasave GmbH
Klosterstr. 26
D-5309 Meckenheim
Their product is called the "VideoStreamer" which sells for DM 249,00
(about US$ 150,00) for the hardware and one software.
// Chris coming in from Germany
\X/ on AutoPilot 1.051……….
I recently received this unit from Manta and you can use it on any VCR
and any Amiga (a1000 need an adapter) It plugs on the serial port
and works fine here . I have done a 31 megs backup in less than 50
minutes with no problems. And you can Backup your game floppys too .
I recomend it for the price that is . Marcel from Quebec city .