|
|
|
10 Time Saving Keyboard Shortcuts
Time is money. And when you constantly have to divide your time between your mouse and your keyboard, your workflow rate really slows down. That's particularly true when you're working on a laptop, where the pointing device is even slower. ...
Detect Spyware Online
You can detect spyware online using free spyware cleaners and by installing spyware protection software on your computer. Often it's best to start with free spyware cleaners because these free programs will remove any spyware programs currently...
How To Install Cable,Dls,And Dialup Modems Fast
When you want to access the Internet,you want to have the fastest Modem connection possible.And the dialup modem will do if you want just email basic surfing. The faster cable or dsl are a must have for such internet downloads of large...
How To Save Big Bucks On A Laptop Computer
If you're a bargain shopper looking to get the most bang for your buck, you'll find no shortage of deals on the Internet. And that's particularly true in the fast-changing world of laptop computers, where you'll find three bargain sources...
MCSE 70-290 Certification Primer
Microsoft Certifications are one of the most widely acclaimed, pursued, and achieved technical certifications in the IT industry. The demand for Microsoft Certified Professionals in the job market is increasing every year. Microsoft offers a...
Proper Font Selection
In times when you are writing a message in your computer, have you ever asked yourself the following questions: How will I convey my message with the use of my fonts? Do I need several colors? Am I going to use big, bold, crisp or spaced fonts?...
Secrets to SpyProofing Your Computer In Four Easy Steps
Secrets to SpyProofing Your Computer In 4 Easy Steps DO I NEED TO SPY PROOF MY COMPUTER? I think the question should be, do I use my computer for anything that would best remain private and confidential? Computer monitoring has become a huge...
urplus Computers and Discount Computers Are New Computers!
Surplus computer just means that manufacturer excess, overstock, and slightly obsolete inventories in HUGE quantities were purchased. What that means for you, our customer, is truly remarkable discount computer prices! These benefits and values...
Using System Restore to save yourself from formatting your hard drive
It is the most annoying thing when one day you use your computer and nothing seems to work fine. Program freezes, files get corrupted or internet doesn’t work. You called the customer support or some friends you know who’s very much familiar with...
Web Hosts: Helping Us Navigate Through This Future Techno-World
Computers, Internet, Web sites…what do they all mean? Hey, you’re probably not a technophobe, I mean you own a microwave right? Just push a few buttons and the food cooks itself-easy. Now, they tell you the best way to share information, have a...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Choosing a Tape Drive
Tape drives remain the leading technology used by organizations for backup and archiving. However, the plethora of tape drives on the market can make choosing the appropriate tape drive a confusing task. How do you select a tape drive that satisfies your needs without blowing the budget? The following are just some of the main factors to consider.
1. Capacity.
Select a tape drive that has sufficient capacity to store your backups. Tape drives are able to compress data so that more data may fit on the tape, which is why manufacturers specify both a native capacity and a compressed capacity, usually with a compression ratio at 2:1. However, highly-compressed files such as those in video and sound formats are hardly compressible at all. For this reason, do not heed the specified compressed capacity when choosing a tape drive.
A good way to determine the size of the backup job after compression is to study logs of past backups. If these are unavailable, it is safe to assume that the data can be compressed at a ratio of 1.4:1, unless the hard drive contains an usually large number of highly-compressed files.
2. Transfer rate.
The transfer rate of the tape drive is becomes important when there is limited "window of opportunity" in which backup jobs may run. It is often desirable for backups to take place during the night when network use is at its lowest. Select a tape drive that is capable of completing a backup job within your window of opportunity. For instance, to back up 400GB per night, you will require a transfer rate of about 30GB/hour.
A little known fact about tape drives is that data must be supplied to them at a sufficient rate in order to keep them streaming, or else the tape suffers from start-stop motion. This motion severely degrades the life of the drive and tapes and the reliability of backups.
There are two usual reasons why tape drive are not be supplied with data at a sufficient rate. Firstly, the rate at which data is read from the hard disk of the server is insufficient.
This rate is dependent on the sizes and locations of the files on disk and is generally unpredictable, but can be determined by the use of specialised software.
Secondly, if data is being transferred over a network of computers to a backup server, the network may be incapable of supplying data at a sufficient rate. The maximum throughput of a network is predictable and easy to measure, based on previous network performance.
Consider a network using 10BaseT Ethernet. This transfer rate through this type of network cannot exceed 10MB/s, so it is immediately apparent that a tape drive requiring 20MB/s is inappropriate.
3. Reliability and duty cycle.
A simple way to gauge the reliability of a tape drive is to find out the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) as specified by the manufacturer. You should note, however, that the MTBF is usually specified at a certain duty cycle. For example, consider a Travan tape drive with a MTBF of 370,000 hours at 20% duty cycle. The drive will only have an average of 370,000 hours between failures if it is run less than 20% of the time (about 4.8 hours per day), and running the tape drive for any longer will significantly reduce the reliability of the drive.
4. Price
There is no point purchasing the highest-range tape drive if it's simply too expensive. Consider how much value-for-money the tape drive will give you. Are you willing to pay more for extra performance? Or do you need to sacrifice some performance to save on costs?
If you choose wisely, you should end up with a tape drive that fulfils your organization's needs, without blowing the budget.
About the Author
Linus Chang is a backup expert and the lead developer of BackupAssist -- tape backup software that is simple and affordable, and perfect for small and medium businesses. Protect your Windows servers, including SQL Server and Exchange Server, to tape, REV drive, hard drive, NAS and more, at a fraction of the cost of other backup software. The product website is at http://www.backupassist.com
|
|
|
|
|
|