What does everybody prefer - a tape drive or a 2nd hard drive for storing backups on? And are there any performance differences?

Thanks :D

2nd Drive is just cheaper.

I run a second drive to store complete backups in tar format. In addition, I tar up critical files and scp them to a different server. This is the easiest solution for me since I don't have daily access to my server for swapping out tapes.

Is there a way to sync or mirror the first drive to avoid doing tars.
I do not want to create a single file rather a copy of the entire drive.

Possible to do?

Thanks

Aloha

one thought is to have a bu of everyting off site as well ??


my feeling is have a mirror image to do a restore
if I have a disaster such as a fire etc... I am going to be down for a few days anyway rebuilding so offsite backups to me do not have to be on tape, they just have to be available.

I have all my files etc... and scripts all ready to go up on another server if need arose ??

if I had my own in house servers I would run backups onto a second machine that had removeable HD bays and rotate them that way ???

server set I am working on (still figuring out)
will run a 2nd HD to bu data on and also run raid on so if a HD does fail at least I will not be down