Tape Drives

What size backups do you need to run?
If cost is your primary concern, see if a CD burner will work for you.

At less then $.10 for each blank CD, you can go through a lot of CD's before coming close to the up-front cost of a rotation of backup tapes.

And, you can access the files on the CD from any machine.

As to tape drives, for reliability, stick with the name brands. HP, Seagate, Teac
Check out prices at www.pricewatch.com

Chas

I believe that a CD burner would suffice, but if you use one,

The burns will have to be kept extremely safe. because of the proliferation of CD roms, the data on it would be readable on any machine (remember a burgular will be able to get sensitive information)

Also, there are some bacteria that EAT the coatings off CDs

I believe that a tape drive could be a good investment, especially since that the data could be encrypted by both the tape drive software and the backup program. Also, they are the best thing for long term storage. (media looks expensive at the start, but remember that one tape can hold 20gig + )

MOs, LS120s, Zips, Jaz, etc. can be an alternative, but zip disks are unreliable as hell, and the media is expensive...