[ Quoting KENNETH ABRAMS to SCOTT LITTLE ]
 SL> dumped to the tape. When a backup program is doing the actual
 SL> backup, the slow part is the tape, not the backup program.
 KA> So, you're saying that any given software backing up a specific set of
 KA> files on a specific piece of hardware will take the same length of
 KA> time,  once the backup is started?
In a nutshell, yes.
 KA> That there are no other variables that the  software may control?
Depends. A fast backup would more often than not be an unreliable one, as the
software would be dumping the files byte for byte to the tape. A longer
backup generally means the software is mixing the files with error checking
and maybe even duplicate information, spaces and other data to help recovery
if the tape is dammaged or gets too old (can't imagine why though).
Some tape drives can also jump down a gear, to improve security and other 
uch
features. Compression can also be enabled/implemented via the hardware.
Generally speaking, if the drive/hardware is operating at maximum speed, the
true data transfer rates will all be the same, nomatter what software is 
eing
used. But that true transfer rate is not the same as the "Bytes Backed Up"
divided by elapsed time.
Regards,
 - Scott
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