I used data tape backup solutions for many years, starting with Mezzo Media Archiver and Exabyte tape, followed by Retrospect and Sony AIT tape. I recently switched to a hard drive backup solution. Here's what I'm doing:
I am using
Deja Vu backup software and a
hard drive docking station. The software allows for incremental backups, so whenever a change is made to any file, the backup process does not delete any old files, but rather archives them in a special folder. This is useful for restoring a project to any desired point in time (similar to incremental data tape restorations). Also, the software does not use a proprietary formatting scheme (like Retrospect does with hard drives), but instead uses standard HFS+, so restoring files is as easy as dragging and dropping them. Because the software allows for incremental backups, I use a backup hard drive with slightly more data capacity than the source drive. For example, if my main drive is 1TB, I'll use a 1.5TB drive for backup. The dock allows for quick and easy exchange of backup drives for redundant storage or client backups.