>After having helped on a lot of tape storage implementations, I get why it's useful for quick estimates on backup solutions. Can't you just do that estimate i

>After having helped on a lot of tape storage implementations, I get why it's useful for quick estimates on backup solutions. Can't you just do that estimate in your head? If you know your data mostly text and has a 3:1 compression ratio, when you buy your tapes you can multiply the raw capacity by 3, if it's mostly compressed images (i.e. gif, jpg, etc), you're probably not going see much compression at all. Does going with some tape drive manufacturer's estimate really help you?