Retrospect mac archive on VXA tapes.

Colorblind

Well-known member
I would like to get feedback on how reliable this archival method is, any possibilities of getting corrupted tapes, catalogs and so on. I've used Retrospect back in the mid 90's but not enough to remember the pros and cons. Right now, we're archiving on DVDs and I've been asked to propose other (not too expensive) reliable alternatives. The Retrospect Mac + firewire VXA tape option, while not being the fastest way to archive-retrieve data, seems to be a more organized way to do the job (no data redundancy, less media to handle, scheduled archivals and so on). The thing is, instead of loosing 4gig on a bad or lost DVD, I would loose between 80 and 160 gig in case or corrupted tape or catalog, that's why I'm asking. Thanks for your help.
 
Re: Retrospect mac archive on VXA tapes.

Works great for me. I have VXA-2 and WXA-320 drives (UW SCSI, now they have FW also). I switched from DDS4 in the summer 2006. Never had an issue with any tape. I am getting 700Mb/min write/read speed on older G4/1000 dual CPU. I was looking to get DDS5 or VXA. After buying one VXA drive it was no brainer. SO much more reliable than DDS technology and so much cheaper than LTO, SDSL, AIT or whatever else. SO much faster than DVDs. I am using X6 tapes which gives me 40 GB per tape for around $15. If you need more you can go as much as 160GB per tape uncompressed or double that for compressed data. Bottom line: If I would look for fast, cheap storage to tape I would buy VXA again. I am looking to get VXA autoloader now. 1,6TB with 10 tapes uncompressed for less than $2K.

BTW. Having bad experience with DDS I am always making 2 tapes. I just never need to use the other tape yet.
 
Re: Retrospect mac archive on VXA tapes.

Thanks Ryan, that's the kind of answer I was hoping to get. Got a quote for a firewire VXA-2 80/160 GB tape recorder + Retrospect bundle and it was surprisingly cheap. It was also my intention to make a copy of each tape, keep a copy of my catalogs and so on. Ryan, are you using "Tandberg" brand tape or some other brand?

Edited by: Colorblind on Apr 21, 2008 1:55 PM
 
Re: Retrospect mac archive on VXA tapes.

Why don't you get VXA-320 drive? VXA-2 is old news and it's not a lot cheaper than 320.

With VXA-2 using X6 tape you will get 20GB, with VXA-320 drive 40GB with no compression. It will quickly pay back in tapes when you buy 320 drive. You will save few dollars on drive but loose lots of canadian dollars on tapes.

I am using original VXA tapes. If you have a source for cheaper OEM or something let me know.
 
Re: Retrospect mac archive on VXA tapes.

You will get 80GB native with X23 on VXA-2. I believe better option is VXA-320 drive and X10 tape because you will get 86GB native and you will be using current technology.

Check this out: add cost of the drive plus 500 tapes for VXA-2 drive and X23 tapes ver VXA-320 drive and 500 X10 tapes, which gives you approximately the same storage.

We know which option is FASTER, but which option is cheaper?
 
Re: Retrospect mac archive on VXA tapes.

I have it set to on but I am not sure if it really works. I make sure my folder to be backed up is a little less than 40GB as I am using X6 tapes.
 

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