[OT] Backup solutions

[Bob Paige <bobman@iname.com>]

I've been running my debian system without a backup for about a year 
now. I understand the need for backup (hence this message) so please, no 
assaults for not using one.

Questions:
1) what is better for backup, tape, or CD? (I already have a CD burner)
2) if tape, what is a good/inexpensive product to use?
3) what software works best?

I did some googling and found Linux-Backup.net (and others). It appears 
the state of backup for Linux is to use tar or afio and backup entire 
images. I haven't found examples of backing up multi-GB archives that 
span multiple tapes/CDRs.

I'm imagining a baseline backup with periodic (maybe weekly, maybe more 
often) incrementals. I can easily copy my relevant files (3GB+) to a 
bunch of CDs, but then how do I keep track of newer backup copies that 
should replace older versions? I am looking for software smart enough to 
do this.

Opinions?

--
Bobman