Any recommend manufacturers for an internal SCSI tape drive in my FreeBSD 7.0 home server? Besides RAID-1, I'm not backing-up, but man, are they expensive! What makes a tape drive so darn pricy? There is no way I can afford a new drive so I'll start looking on eBay and craigslist to see if there are any used tape drives out there. If you have had success with a tape drive and FreeBSD I'd like to hear from you.
Yes, IDE/SCSI drives are an option but I want the experience of installing and operating a tape drive. It may come in handy someday if I have a sysdmin job.
Whoa, what happened? Honest, I'm not talking to myself here! :o
I used the Tandberg range in the distant past with no hassles as long as I was restoring on the same tape drive - portability between systems can be problematic as the rubber drive wheels in the tape units age. If you are buying a S/H unit check that the drive wheel is not flat-spotted or the rubber has gone "gooeey". Don't buy S/H media and be prepared to pay plenty for new!