Getting Full

[DroppedAtBirth.com]

My current computer is a Dual 800mhz PIII's,w/ 384 mb ram, 20GB hd, DVD, CD-RW, 20GB hp tape backup, voodoo5, sb live, and windows 2000 pro. My HD is getting full (92%). My tape drive can't fit it all on one tape anymore. I went thru and cleaned it up, but still it is above 90%.


My questions what does everybody recommend for a money worth storage upgrade? I have looked at getting a bigger drive but I would like to double my 20gb if I was to do that. I have all my IDE connections taken so I can't just add another hd. Unless, add a scsi hd, which i have a scsi card already but scsi hd are a bit pricey. I have also thought about changing to a scsi backup driver - like a seagate one - and then using the extra IDE connecions for a 30 gb hd.

I am just looking for pros and cons to either just switch backup and adding a drive or just upgrading a driver to bigger or adding a scsi hd.

[DroppedAtBirth.com]

The HP drive is 14gb native and 20gb compressed. I have 18.4 gb uses and the compression ratio is as high as it can go but I only get about 17.9 gb on a tape. Hp says the compression may vary depending on the file type. I use a second tape. The only reason I want/need to replace it is I need another hd. I am happy with the tape drive. Just need more storage.

[Target]

So you have a 20gb drive, and a 20gb tape backup unit, and yet you say that the tape cannot hold what is on your hard disk?

Are you configuring the tape backup to compress files when writing to tape? If not, give that a shot. Also, you can span your backup across more than one tape, so to be honest, I don't see a complete need to get a replacement unless there are other reasons you have not specified.