When it came to backup, tape used to be the only really affordable technology. Until, that is, disk prices started to plummet with - as well as fixed drive solutions - a number of removable disk products now available, including this new, SATA-based, RDX QuikStor from Tandberg Data.

There are two parts to the RDX QuikStor: a 3.5-inch form factor chassis designed to fit a standard PC or server storage bay, and removable cartridges, each holding a complete 2.5-inch SATA disk drive. We tested the base model which comes with a 40GB cartridge (£67 plus VAT when purchased separately), although 80GB and 120GB cartridges are also available at £100 and £160 plus VAT respectively.

All the cables required are included and installation takes just a few minutes. Of course, you will need to know your way around the inside of a server, although a slightly slower external USB version (£190 plus VAT) can be had if that's a problem.

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Automatically detected and configured as an ordinary SATA hard disk, the RDX QuikStor can be used with most versions of Windows and Linux. Windows, however, doesn't expect SATA disks to be removable, so a small utility is required to enable the cartridges to be ejected and swapped, either under software control or by pressing the eject button on the drive itself.

As well as being cheaper, one of the big advantages of disk-based backup is that it's a lot quicker than most tape alternatives, although actual performance does still depend on the host configuration and software used.

For our tests we used a Dell PowerEdge 1800 with a 3GHz Intel Xeon processor, 1GB of memory and a SATA disk array running Windows Server 2003 R2.

Using this, the RDX QuikStor cartridge was mounted and assigned a drive letter just like a fixed disk and we were able to drag files to it or use the drive as a target from a backup application. Virtually any software can be used here, although some programs won't let backups span more than one disk cartridge so it's worth checking before you buy.

In our case we used the copy of Symantec Backup Exec bundled with the drive, which enabled us to record a transfer rate of around 25MB/sec for both backups and restores. A good result, which compares well against more expensive tape-based alternatives.

Indeed at just £160 it undercuts most SME tape drives by huge amount, plus it's cheaper than other removable disk products from vendors such as Iomega and StorCase. We were a little concerned that the cartridges might not be as robust as some, but Tandberg insists that they can be dropped from over a metre without any problems.

A lot cheaper and quicker than most tape based alternatives, each RDX QuikStor cartridge contains a complete SATA hard disk making for a powerful and cost effective solution when it comes to taking backups on a small business server or desktop PC. Windows and Linux compatibility is another plus, with backup software also bundled as part of the deal. The RDX QuikStor is a very affordable removable disk solution with clear benefits when it comes to server backup.