>> We do. On every backup run. And to this day, I have never, ever had a
>> problem restoring something that the backup software said was OK.
> 
> Do you do a checksum-based verification, or a compare-to-disk 
> verification?

It should be a compare-to-disk verification. (At least, it generates 
enough I/O traffic!) I would think anything less wouldn't tell you much...

>> Indeed, if the tape is wearing out, I usually get an error message
>> before the verify phase even begins. (Not sure how it manages that, but
>> it often reports a CRC error...)
> 
> I imagine that even without a verify, your software checks during the 
> backup process to make sure it was written properly.

Yeah, but I was thinking at the physical level. Maybe it's a 3-head tape 
system?

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
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