Or another option would be, if you could scrape up the money, to lay down the cash for something like a low-end Netgear ReadyNAS and push your files to that for "warm storage". Last I checked they were still using a version of NetaTalk that worked with OS 9.
(For archival backups the ReadyNAS boxes have a USB port and a "Backup" button on them that can snapshot the online storage to a portable USB disk for safekeeping, thus helping make"multi-level" backup strategies easier for even knuckledraggers to handle. I'm sure plenty of other brands have similar features, I just happen to be vaguely familiar with the ReadyNAS line.)
You also have that ATOM board you keep talking about. That's the perfect sort of hardware to roll your own NAS with one of the many dedicated USB Key/LiveCD-based NAS OS distributions there are floating around. All you'll need is a couple of big disks (Two 2GB drives in a software mirror enough?) and a box. Granted this may get you in deeper than you want to be with the technical details, which is why the prefab boxes like the ReadyNAS exist.
In any case, talking to network storage should be considerably faster than using USB 1.1 as long as your home network supports at least 100mb. I guess if you're talking to a Beige G3 then... well, heck, 10mb Ethernet should at least make it about a tie.
(For archival backups the ReadyNAS boxes have a USB port and a "Backup" button on them that can snapshot the online storage to a portable USB disk for safekeeping, thus helping make"multi-level" backup strategies easier for even knuckledraggers to handle. I'm sure plenty of other brands have similar features, I just happen to be vaguely familiar with the ReadyNAS line.)
You also have that ATOM board you keep talking about. That's the perfect sort of hardware to roll your own NAS with one of the many dedicated USB Key/LiveCD-based NAS OS distributions there are floating around. All you'll need is a couple of big disks (Two 2GB drives in a software mirror enough?) and a box. Granted this may get you in deeper than you want to be with the technical details, which is why the prefab boxes like the ReadyNAS exist.
In any case, talking to network storage should be considerably faster than using USB 1.1 as long as your home network supports at least 100mb. I guess if you're talking to a Beige G3 then... well, heck, 10mb Ethernet should at least make it about a tie.