TAPE Backup - All you ever wanted to know...

Alternatives to tape

CD-ROM: Advantages: random access, portability, permanence. Disadvantages: 650 Megabyte limit, slow (2x, 4x record speed).
ZIP: Advantages: random access, portability (not as good as CD-ROM). Disadvantages: not universal (LS-120 and others are competitors, small capacity (100 Megabytes). JAZ has higher capacity (2G) but is even less universal.
Future Options: DVD-Recordable. Main problem is lack of an industry-wide standard. Potential capacity is > 10 Gbytes. Recording speed may be a limitation