Jon,

Thanks for the 101 course -- that was very helpful.  I'm now wondering
if amanda is what I really need.  I have a 90 GB single-tape drive and
(currently) about 15 GB of uncompressed files (from du -k) to be backed
up.  Incremental backups should be in the 10-50 MB range (uncompressed).
And to top it off, it's (currently) a single client machine.  So a
single tape should last me a long time!  I want a low-maintenance
automated backup system that will just email me when I've filled a tape
and need to stick in a new one.  Perhaps amanda is way overkill for me
right now.  Can anyone suggest an alternative?  Hopefully one that is
exceedingly simple for a novice to operate?

Keith.