fbackup will work well and you can manipulate the tape library with the mc command. Now running fbackup on the local node and specifying the tape device as a remote tape means you won't have any control over the tape library (changer). So the task will have to be coordinated from the media server. Your backup starts by loading the right tape, then scheduling fbackup on the remote machine and sending the data to the media server's tape drive. You always need to use a config file for fbackup or the records will be too small to keep the tape drive running at full speed. And the media server must allow remsh from the remote systems so the remote tape capability will work.
Also consider carefully the recovery process. fbackup works well for individual files and directories but is useless for loss of the remote system's root disk. For that, you will need Ignite/UX, specifically setting up the media server as an Ignite network server. You'll need anough space to hold VG00 for all the machines. And of course, test the backups and the restore steps. You don't want to find out you can't restore the files you need because of a mistake in the backup process.
Bill Hassell, sysadmin
