>Is this correct: Does a BACKUP DB to tape need a least 2 tapes?
>The active backup can't be overwritten, so the procedure must be: BACKUP DB,
>expire the old backup to free the other tape a.s.o. This way I would reserve 2
>35 GB tapes for a DB that might be 5 GB.

No, the backup operation itself does not require 2 tapes.
*SM does insist that you always have at least one db backup in place,
and thus disallows you to delete the only copy.  You should be keeping
at least several days worth anyway, for safety, per the Admin Guide.
You can use a File type of volume if you really object to consuming
tapes: see prior posting.
    Richard Sims, BU