What Crito states is true; my example is a combination of both.

I CRON my backup jobs and store them away which then gets transferred remotely and also RAIDed. But thanks for the clarification, Crito.

data replication & snapshot. fun for the whole family!

Hey. I'm loving all the responses, and I'm learning alot. Just to wade off any confusion. I'd like to better define the purpose of my system.

First of I have it's actual uses:
- Router/Firewall
- Webserver
- Fileserver (Samba/FTP)
- Database Server
- Mail server

I do this cause I'm running a website, serving up my homes LAN with internet, I want to learn, i was fedup of the blue-screen of death and I just thought Linux was the coolest thing ever.

Now, one additional questions, how would you rate a external USB HDD for such a task? Especially since they are of comparable price to that of a tape drive.

Thanks alot.