Evil hardware

Tape drives suck. I don't care if it is a DAT, Travan, some weird mumbojumbo cassette or reel cooked up by a psychotic goat that is doing tech support on the side - tape drives suck. Most don't actually work when it comes to restoring data. They also give you a sense of security, false security. These little darlings are expensive, require high maintenance, hard to install, quirky about even running, terrible to configure and are just a poor choice of backup. Did I mention that tape drives suck?

Use Google to search for alternative ways to backup your data. The price of dual layer DVD 'burners' has dropped and USB hard drive back up kits can even be purchased at Wal-mart. They sell a Seagate 120 gigabyte harddrive with the backup software, cables, nice case for around $150.00. Easy to install and just about as dependable as it gets. Even though the media for the dual layer DVD recorders is still expensive it will drop as has all media before it.

If your data is extremely valuable you might consider online backup. It will be in our area soon.

"Back up my hard drive? How do I put it in reverse?"
-Lawrence Easley