Best tape backup software?

[Sesshi]

I suffer from extensive paranoia of data loss and in addition to the HDD-based backups I do now, I've been looking to back up the Pro using tape. There are Mac incompatibilities in connecting to my SAN infrastructure, but as an alternative I have a Sony AITe200-UL Firewire AIT drive which I use on some of my Windows desktops which don't connect to my main network.

The backups would in all likelihood be attended (i.e. I'd be sitting near the machine for the duration of the backup) and will most likely not exceed the uncompressed capacity of the tape drive (80Gb) as it'll be documents only, not media (which is centralised and already backed up properly). A decent verify is a must but apart from that, I don't need a backup software jangling with features. I would like quick, fussless install of the backup software so that it's a good second-string backup to a bootable HDD image in case that doesn't work for any reason.

My automatic choice would have been Retrospect Desktop because I've worked with it - I use Retrospect on some of my PC's already. But is there a better option on the Mac?

 

[MacsRgr8]

I suffer from extensive paranoia of data loss and in addition to the HDD-based backups I do now, I've been looking to back up the Pro using tape. There are Mac incompatibilities in connecting to my SAN infrastructure, but as an alternative I have a Sony AITe200-UL Firewire AIT drive which I use on some of my Windows desktops which don't connect to my main network.

The backups would in all likelihood be attended (i.e. I'd be sitting near the machine for the duration of the backup) and will most likely not exceed the uncompressed capacity of the tape drive (80Gb) as it'll be documents only, not media (which is centralised and already backed up properly). A decent verify is a must but apart from that, I don't need a backup software jangling with features. I would like quick, fussless install of the backup software so that it's a good second-string backup to a bootable HDD image in case that doesn't work for any reason.

My automatic choice would have been Retrospect Desktop because I've worked with it - I use Retrospect on some of my PC's already. But is there a better option on the Mac?

IMHO Retrospect is the best. Most supported, and has matured over time. In the early Mac OS X days, it was horrific, but nowadays I find it the best / easiest backup software for the Mac.
I have tried Bru backup software, but I always tend to go back to Retrospect.

 

[Koppenhoefer]

We're using Bru but...

We are using BRU from the tolisgroup http://www.tolisgroup.com/ to our general satisfaction. They are VERY helpful and fast responding to problems/bug-reports etc.

The only problem that I have is that I cannot find a dedicated BRU Forum discussion-area where I can meet other users. :-( Can anyone send me a relevent url?

shawn

p.s. My question would be: If I am appending to my destination group (not over-writing) for my incremental backups, how can I easily recycle all tapes (and only those tapes) with last-use predating the most recent full-backup.??
My current solution is to manually modify the current destination to not include the slots containing those tapes, add the slots containing those tapes a new destination, recycle the destination, remove the destination, and add those slots back to the original destination. Is there a better solution? Has anyone automated this solution using the command-line (libctl and tapectl ?).