[mythtv-users] Lost my OS hard drive (also ran)

[David Brodbeck]

Brian Wood wrote:
> On Tuesday 15 September 2009 15:57:53 David Brodbeck wrote:
>> Brian Wood wrote:
>>> In the "Old Days" we used tape or removable drive cartridges for backup,
>>> if the drive failed the media would simply be put into another drive.
>> Assuming it didn't eat the tape in the process. ;)
> 
> I've never had a DLT tape get eaten or otherwise fail.

I did have one once that I couldn't extract from the drive.  DLT 
cartridges contain only one spool, with the other one being inside the 
drive, so if the drive fails after the tape is loaded you're screwed.

I think I had three DLT drive failures in two years.  This was somewhat 
better than my experience with DAT drives but still not terribly 
confidence-inspiring.

> I'd be happy to trade speed for reliability, just let the B/U job run 
> overnight and speed isn't that big a concern, at least not for me.

Yeah, but you have to keep getting up to switch tapes.  Unless you buy a 
tape robot, which adds a whole 'nother layer of failure potential.

> Drive-to-drive is certainly fast, but not all that reliable, unless you use 
> multiple drives.

True, but multiple hard drives are cheap these days, and they aren't as 
mechanically cranky as tape drives.

With a tape drive you always have to buy two anyway.  After a few years 
the preferred format will have changed, new drives will be unavailable, 
and you'll need a second drive to read your tapes after the first drive 
breaks.