POLL: tape backup format and software

["Douglas A. Tutty" <dtutty@porchlight.ca>]

Could those of you who use tape (DDS, DLT, Ultrium) for backup or
archive tell me what format and software you have found most helpful?

I only have a couple of boxes to backup.  Right now, they each run their
own script and create a tarball that then the main box rsyncs to its
raid1 array (and the main box rsyncs its most important data (small set)
to the other boxes.

I'm going to be transitioning to tape for long-term archiving.  I could
just pass the existing tarballs out to tapes and keep a manual log of
what is where.  I could use a different format.  I could use some other
software.

Re format:  since some things (e.g. CD.iso's to protect existing CDs
from scratches) are intended for long-term storage, I would like the
file format to be very portable.  I know that nobody knows for sure what
formats will be able to be read in 20 years, but what would be a good
bet (to avoid having to copy the tape just to change formats)?  For this
reason, I don't want just dump tapes since they're filesystem (and OS?)
specific.

I don't need the complexity of Amanda or Baccula.  I'm not sure I need
any complexity at all.  

Thanks for your POLL results and your feedback.

Doug.