Date: Sat, 1 Aug 1998 14:43:33 -0400 From: Nathan Dorfman <nathan@fcc.net> To: Scott <scott@SchematiX.net> Cc: Andrew Bromage <bromage@queens.unimelb.edu.au>, freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: CD writers as a backup medium Message-ID: <19980801144333.A12731@fcc.net> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.01.9808011006210.9686-100000@SchematiX.net>; from Scott on Sat, Aug 01, 1998 at 10:10:29AM -0700 References: <19980801105021.B12513@fcc.net> <Pine.BSF.4.01.9808011006210.9686-100000@SchematiX.net>
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On Sat, Aug 01, 1998 at 10:10:29AM -0700, Scott wrote: > > > On Sat, 1 Aug 1998, Nathan Dorfman wrote: > > > On Sat, Aug 01, 1998 at 06:04:01PM +1000, Andrew Bromage wrote: > > > G'day all. > > > > > > Just wondered if anyone had thoughts on using a CD writer with > > > FreeBSD-stable as a backup medium. Does the lack of hard real-timeness > > > matter? Like, if some other process starts thrashing, will my CD be > > > ruined? Is the support for some writers better than others? Should I > > > just stick with tape? > > > > Yes, the lack of hard real-timeness matters. CD writers ideally > > want a constant stream of data. Depending on the size of the buffer > > in your drive, you can interrupt the stream for as much as a second > > or two. However, if some other process starts thrashing and the CDR > > drive's buffer *is* exhausted, there is nothing more to write and > > you're SOL, as that CD is now a coaster. > > > > This is why people make filesystems on their hard disk and then burn > > it to CD. However, if the system is mostly idle, and you have a fast > > disk, you shouldn't have too many problems backing up to CD. You may > > want to consider sticking to tape though. Tapes hold what, 4 gigs? > > CD-ROMS hold 650MB. > > tapes may be 4GB, but most of them are extremely slow compared to a CD-R. > Even some of the fastest tape drives aren't as fast as a 4x CD-R (last > time i checked). Tape drives are also a lot more expensive and the tapes > are EXTREMELY expensive. CD-R disk can be found for $1 or less if you have > a rebate. Tapes for my TR1 drive (old; never in use anymore) are $30 > each...and i have 5 tapes for them. So it really comes down to how much > money you have. A 90 meter DAT tape can hold up to 4 gigs per tape. You can get them for about $9 a piece, according to people who buy them. You'll need 6 CDs to back up 4 gigs on CD, that's $6-9. Use the DAT tape twice and you've already gotten your money's worth. A good CD-R drive is $400 (SCSI). How much is a SCSI DAT drive, anyone? Plus, I'm not even mentioning that you can buy 120m tapes for only a few dollars more. > > -- > > Nathan Dorfman | E-mail: nathan@fcc.net > > Frontline Communications | Front desk: 914-623-8553: > > -scott -- Nathan Dorfman | E-mail: nathan@fcc.net Frontline Communications | Front desk: 914-623-8553: To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message
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