LTO-4 Software Recommendations for PC

[fiendish]

Hi all,

I know there are a myriad threads on an OSX solution for backup, but what about PC? There are loads of potential backup clients out there, just wondered if anyone had a recommendation for software that was particularly video friendly.

I'm getting an HP 1760 LTO-4 which'll be using the onboard SAS on my HP xw8600. I think i'll favour backing up projects one at time rather than drives at a time, i.e. files don't necessarily need to link to their original locations.

Cheers

Ollie

 

[Troy Smith]

Hi there, I'm getting the identical drive for my new HP workstation, and have the same question as you, not knowing which software is best to use.

 

[John Tissavary]

The best & most compatible would be a PC with linux installed, and use 'tar' (tape-archive) as the backup utility & format. It's a single command line, comes with very distro of linux, and is the worlds most widely used tape archive format.

Personally, I can't recommend doing it any other way.


regards,


John T.

 

[fiendish]

Thanks John. I don't have a Linux partition at the moment and have never used it before, don't really have time for the learning curve at the mo. Was after a simple Windows solution if possible...

 

[Tim Jones]

Hi Ollie and Stricko -

I'm not truly an expert in Windows software for this purpose (other than I know that apps like BackupEXEC and NetBackup are swatting flies with a battleship in this case), I've heard a few Windows users mention NovaStor's NovaBackup.

As I mentioned, I've not used this personally, but a few others have commented on the fact that it works, is relatively fast, and is very inexpensive. The only negative thing I've read about it is that the UI seems to have been designed by a non-English speaking team and the design can be a bit tough to work through initially.

[EDIT] - I've just looked at the product and the UI appears to have been dramtically improved since the version I saw last year.


HTH,
Tim

 

[fiendish]

Thanks for that Tim. It's really quite overwhelming! There are so many PC solutions, but all of the simpler desktop packages don't support tape, and the high end server solutions are vastly over powered and over complicated for this purpose.

Will have a look at Novaback though, thanks for the tip.

 

[M Most]

Most of the HP drives ship with a copy of HP Data Protector and also a copy of Yosemite backup software. You haven't said whether you will need to be able to exchange your backups with other facilities, or whether these are strictly for "in house" use. Exchange is difficult with proprietary backup solutions, hence John's suggestion of using TAR. But for in-house backups, the packaged solutions are much easier to use, keep their own databases for simple restoration, and can run unattended. The Yosemite program that has been packaged with HP drives in the past is quite good for this purpose.

 

[fiendish]

Thanks mate. Yes primarily for in-house use, though on occasion it probably would be helpful to supply rushes backup to clients. Will have a look at Yosemite too.

 

[Tim Jones]

TAR - if you're using tape, not as widespread as you think.

TAR - if you're using tape, not as widespread as you think.

Exchange is difficult with proprietary backup solutions, hence John's suggestion of using TAR.

This is something that I've been meaning to visit for a few posts and somehow kept getting side-tracked.

While tar is ubiquitous, it is not good for interchange outside of the Unix/Linux/BSD world as there is no native tar for Windows or OS X that can talk to tape drives. For files, yes - tar is available on all platforms, and yes, some commercial tools can read or write tar tapes on Windows, but tape access is limited by the manner in which the tape devices must be controlled. Therefore, tar as a Windows or Mac interchange format is not a valid statement for every instance.

Tim

 

[M Most]

While tar is ubiquitous, it is not good for interchange outside of the Unix/Linux/BSD world as there is no native tar for Windows or OS X that can talk to tape drives. For files, yes - tar is available on all platforms, and yes, some commercial tools can read or write tar tapes on Windows, but tape access is limited by the manner in which the tape devices must be controlled. Therefore, tar as a Windows or Mac interchange format is not a valid statement for every instance.

When I talk about interchange, I'm referring primarily to professional facilities, essentially all of which can read and ingest from TAR, even though their in-house solutions can differ. I'm not talking about individuals with individual Macs or PC's. There are, of course, third party TAR solutions available on both platforms (I've used WinTAR SCSI in the past to recover files from LTO3 drives).

 

[Tim Jones]

TAR Clarification

TAR Clarification

When I talk about interchange, I'm referring primarily to professional facilities, essentially all of which can read and ingest from TAR, even though their in-house solutions can differ.

Correct, but your statement wasn't clear on that point. Of course, any shop with the availability of a Unix-based system or specialized additional software and trained staff can use tar in that case.

I'm not talking about individuals with individual Macs or PC's. There are, of course, third party TAR solutions available on both platforms (I've used WinTAR SCSI in the past to recover files from LTO3 drives).

WinTAR for Windows is an option, but it IS a commercial application and is not on Windows by default - the user must know they need it and where to find it. Also, there are no tar versions on OS X that can access tape.

Therefore, as I submitted, tape-aware tar is not native to Windows or OS X and tapes created using tar on other platforms can't readily be exchanged between these platforms without the addition of other software. Therefore, simply recommending tar as a blanket solution can be misleading to those who do not know these limitations. That's my only point. I'm not saying that tar is not a valid option, just that it's not a valid option for everyone.

If you have the staff and facilities, anything is possible .

Tim

 

[M Most]

WinTAR for Windows is an option, but it IS a commercial application and is not on Windows by default - the user must know they need it and where to find it. Also, there are no tar versions on OS X that can access tape.

And the problem with commercial applications is...??? As I recall, everything made by Tolis is also a commercial application....

Quite frankly, I think our economy might be a lot healthier if everyone here and elsewhere (not including you and I, of course) didn't feel some strange sense of entitlement to free stuff all the time.

 

[Tim Jones]

And the problem with commercial applications is...??? As I recall, everything made by Tolis is also a commercial application....

My point was that it's not simply something that's there as on Linux, Unix, and the like.

Quite frankly, I think our economy might be a lot healthier if everyone here and elsewhere (not including you and I, of course) didn't feel some strange sense of entitlement to free stuff all the time.

And I remember when I sold a single license for BRU to a Consensys, Amdahl, Sequent, Prime or Cray customer for $3,500

We actually had a user that asked for a free license to PE because he was using a free copy of Pro Tools M-Powered that a friend had given him ... :headwall:

And now we're officially WAAAAAY off topic. :embarassed:

Tim

 

[Troy Smith]

Thanks for the conversations guys, this thread answered alot of questions for the pc side.