Slightly off topic but I used to keep tape backups.

For me it was more about the nostalgia though. I had a NT4 server that had a DDS tape drive and have fond? memories of file restores using Backup Exec or Arc Serv.
As I was only playing multiple tapes don't matter especially as backups weren't every night. Job 1 might be my apps, job 2 games, job 3 documents, each on their own tape.

Not sure how much I'd trust tapes for important backups for a home setup. I think its probably better/cheaper just to use standard hard drive that can easily be read natively by any pc in the future
but having another copy of your data isn't going to hurt and if you want to play with this technology then fair enough.

Re LTO itself, I've used various tape backups at work over the years and found LTO gave me the least trouble. Final being a tape library which finally got decommissioned 5 years ago.
My only real complaint is the size of the tape itself which is only an issue when trying to store 100's of them.

wierd_w wrote on 2025-10-29, 17:31:

Ok... if true sas hba is 'not allowed'... […]
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Ok... if true sas hba is 'not allowed'...

There does exist some oddware.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/373371742490

...

I know there is one company makes USB LTO6 drive, maybe they uses the same chip in their external drive
https://www.unitex.co.jp/en/products/hardware … /lto-tapedrive/

sangokushi wrote on 2025-10-30, 05:11:

wierd_w wrote on 2025-10-29, 17:31:

Ok... if true sas hba is 'not allowed'... […]
Show full quote

Ok... if true sas hba is 'not allowed'...

There does exist some oddware.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/373371742490

...

I know there is one company makes USB LTO6 drive, maybe they use the same chip in their external drive
https://www.unitex.co.jp/en/products/hardware … /lto-tapedrive/

I was more interested in knowing the backup methods. I understand that up to LTO4 drives, every time you do a backup, it has to rewrite all the previous data along with the new data. And that you have to have them available? This is because it doesn't support partitions, not even LTFS. Could someone who uses them explain this to me? I was simply thinking of doing incremental backups and that I only had to write the new data each time, not that I also had to have all the data written to the tapes in previous years.

It *depends* on what software you use.

In one of the teams I managed we had an LTO (5, I think?) tape library - the team used Amanda (https://www.amanda.org/) to do full-system and incremental backups of a range of systems. It was the amanda software itself which knew which tapes to use for the incrementals vs full system image.

Restoring was a case of the system prompting to insert (for example); master tape 7 and incremental tapes 23, 24 and 25... of course being an auto loader you didn't usually need to actually insert any tapes unless we wanted to go back any further than the time the tapes were cycled to offsite storage.

In this case, it was the Amanda software itself which kept a local db of what was were on which tapes.

LTFS effectively treats the linear tape as (slow) hard drive, and you can read and write to it on individual files. You don't *have* to use it like that.

Yes, I used LTO3 and now LTO4 for home back up.
Very cost effective as old drives are cheap and cartridges easy to find.
I use a parellel scsi drive.

Been using it for quite a few years now (6 maybe?)

I would like LTO 5 or 6 for LTFS but LTO4 tapes are big enough, plus would then need a SAS card, would need to change all my lto3 and lto3 carts to lto5/6 and I can't be bothered atm 😂

I keep layered backups at home and a copy of my most recent backups at work

squelch41 wrote on 2025-10-31, 23:42:

Yes, I used LTO3 and now LTO4 for home back up. Very cost effective as old drives are cheap and cartridges easy to find. I use a […]
Show full quote

Yes, I used LTO3 and now LTO4 for home back up.
Very cost effective as old drives are cheap and cartridges easy to find.
I use a parellel scsi drive.

Been using it for quite a few years now (6 maybe?)

I would like LTO 5 or 6 for LTFS but LTO4 tapes are big enough, plus would then need a SAS card, would need to change all my lto3 and lto3 carts to lto5/6 and I can't be bothered atm 😂

I keep layered backups at home and a copy of my most recent backups at work

I have 2 LTO3 drives, but don't bother using them. Speed is low and restore too.
LTO 6 would be great but not being a pro I only need to save pics and videos. All the other stuff is online already (e.g. OS ISOs). Multiple HDDs are what I use.

Btw, what system do you use them on and what's the software you use?

Nexxen wrote on 2025-11-01, 01:49:

I have 2 LTO3 drives, but don't bother using them. Speed is low and restore too. LTO 6 would be great but not being a pro I only […]
Show full quote

squelch41 wrote on 2025-10-31, 23:42:

Yes, I used LTO3 and now LTO4 for home back up. Very cost effective as old drives are cheap and cartridges easy to find. I use a […]
Show full quote

Yes, I used LTO3 and now LTO4 for home back up.
Very cost effective as old drives are cheap and cartridges easy to find.
I use a parellel scsi drive.

Been using it for quite a few years now (6 maybe?)

I would like LTO 5 or 6 for LTFS but LTO4 tapes are big enough, plus would then need a SAS card, would need to change all my lto3 and lto3 carts to lto5/6 and I can't be bothered atm 😂

I keep layered backups at home and a copy of my most recent backups at work

I have 2 LTO3 drives, but don't bother using them. Speed is low and restore too.
LTO 6 would be great but not being a pro I only need to save pics and videos. All the other stuff is online already (e.g. OS ISOs). Multiple HDDs are what I use.

Btw, what system do you use them on and what's the software you use?

I'd use it on Windows 10, but I can actually use it on any system. I have a ton of computers, but the one I'd choose is the one I connect everything retro to because it has all the most common native ports, from Floppy to IDE, from SCSI to Parallel...

I have no idea about the software; I started this post specifically to get some advice on software. I need to back up a FreeNAS system with n+1 disk, so I don't care if the backup is slow, nor if the restore is slow, as the possibility of restoring is truly remote. It's an added security feature on media locked away in a separate box.

AlessandroB wrote on 2025-11-01, 15:26:

I have no idea about the software; I started this post specifically to get some advice on software. I need to back up a FreeNAS system with n+1 disk, so I don't care if the backup is slow, nor if the restore is slow, as the possibility of restoring is truly remote. It's an added security feature on media locked away in a separate box.

First paragraph was for you, second was for squelch41.
My mistake.

I used Uranium Backpup 9 (there's a thread I started a couple years ago). Maybe there's better software.
I got a second working unit and a third I still have to repair. They are both full height and not practical to use (2 x 5.25) , the one I have to repair is half height and fits in a 5.25 bay.
You need a cleaning cartridge, it's mandatory for cleaning the heads.

I've got one lto6 standalone drive and a tape changer with a built in lto6. The relatively small capacity is not a big problem when using a changer as you can start the backup and just wait for it to finish.

Doing my own full backups twice a year and for some of my customers.

LeFlash wrote on 2025-11-02, 11:17:

I've got one lto6 standalone drive and a tape changer with a built in lto6. The relatively small capacity is not a big problem when using a changer as you can start the backup and just wait for it to finish.

Doing my own full backups twice a year and for some of my customers.

Are cleaning cartridges the same as LTO 3? Or 4,5,6.... require a specific one?