This is an ongoing discussion we have been having here..CDR's are definately the cheap and very relaible answer to backing up..they're compact so storing them is easy..only problem..700MB limitations! If you had a DVD..bam..9.4GB of space available..SCSI drives can be very efficient for backup..just can get expensive as you fill one after the other up..but then again all you need is a hot swappable SCSI bay and you can exchange drives left and right all day long! A lot of people use the Exobyte data cartridges..I believe they are like 10 to 20GB? Someone will chime in on that on soon I'm sure.
If I had the choice I think I would truly go with the SCSI drive backup system..you can get drives of exponential GB sizes and back up your main stuff very easily and quickly and bring it back the same
Opus

the Exobyte i've had experience with was only 6-7gig per tape. but it seems all of the linear tape backup formats can vary widely, depending on the drive purchased.

but i'd personally still stay away from 'em. for reasons of longevity, capacity, and value i still vote for DVD-RAM...but they are slow...as in 1MB/sec slow. you can find DVD-RAM drives for ~$200 nowadays too, an no additional software is necessary.

Howdy

Recently, I was turned onto a FireWire Raid system that looks quite good for backup.

Archiving is a different thing. For that I'd look to some sort of "writable ROM" (CDR, DVD RAM) as it reduces the temptation to "temporarily change" something.

... and another option: [[url=http://[/URL]="http://www.castlewo…"]ORB[/]="http://www.castlewo…"]ORB[/] - a 2.2GB (or the new 5.7GB) optical disk. Drives are available in several different flavours: IDE, SCSI, USB. Mac is supported - Just a couple of days ago I put an internal IDE ORB in a beige G3 and it works well. The disks and drives are reasonably priced.

Have fun deciding... ;-)

Matthias