I've enjoyed reading the rapid pace of RAID advancement in this list. I recently nearly convinced a client to utilize a RAID5 setup for a backup system (rather than a multi-tape system or a $$$$ bigger tape). I nearly had it in, until the question of fire survivability came up.... I dislike tape drives, they never seem to match hard drive capacity at reasonable pricing. I can setup a RAID5 for fewer dollars, including a spare drive, for a typical networked SOHO with around 13 Gig of on-line workstation storage. Tape drives deal with fires, combined with an insurance company. The downside of tape is well known... I recall some amazing things that the gods of RAID development have accomplished and have a few thoughts... Given that the RAID code can handle a meta-device composed of IDE, SCSI, and apparently, other meta-devices, it would seem that the basis of the code is distinct from the drivers. So...can I make a RAID0-linear of tape drives? Older, lower capacity drives abound. Onsale has 2 Gig drives for $40. An 8 Gig tape compatible with Linux is $800. I can buy alot of pizza with the difference. Getting a busy small office staff to feed a single tape drive is tough, a single staff operation (i.e. put in all the tapes) is alot more likely to occur. It would seem that an intermediate layer to hide the character nature of tape drives inside a software block device might allow something to be produced. It doesn't need to be fast, backups can take all night for an office. I can do more than ask questions, I have 3 identical tape drives to offer for development. Comments?
