General We do NOT sell tapes. Technova Computing only offers duplication service and conversion service. For that we will supply the necessary tapes if needed. We can only handle data tape services. Audio or Video is not our expertise, so we cannot help you with those products. 4mm (DAT) We support the following 4mm DAT formats: DDS1 DDS1-DCLZ DDS2 DDS2-DCLZ DDS3 DDS3-DCLZ DDS4 DDS4-DCLZ The abbreviation DAT means "Digital Audio Tape". As the name indicates, the tape was developed to record music (and other analogue sources, for that matter) as digital data. The version derived for computers uses the so-called Digital Data Storage (DDS) format, which was defined by Sony and Hewlett-Packard. This format uses the same basic audio format as the DAT, but also includes several levels of error detection and correction to increase reliability. Two different versions of the DAT exist for computers: - DATADAT, which was used by JVC - DAT as used by Archive, Hewlett-Packard, Sony and others The recording technology used is called "Helical Scan" and is derived from the video cassette recorder. With "Helical Scan", two tracks are written / read simultaneously and are closely spaced for high data density. The recording / reading is performed by a slightly tilted rotating head, so the tracks are written to the tape at an angle. Sub-codes that are written to each track during recording make fast access to any position on the tape possible. Hardware data compression (DCLZ) is often used in all the DDS formats. DCLZ has a positive influence on both speed and capacity. 8mm (Exabyte) We support the following 8mm formats: Exabyte 2501 * Exabyte 8200 Exabyte 8200C Exabyte 8500 Exabyte 8500C Exabyte 8505XL Exabyte 8700 Exabyte Eliant 820 Exabyte Mammoth-LT Exabyte Mammoth For many years now, 8mm tapes have been used in the computer industry. Especially their high storage to price ratio, made this a very popular choice for small to medium size companies. Most of the well known 8mm drives are manufactured by Exabyte Corporation. There is however, yet another protocol for 8mm drives: the Advanced Intelligent Tape (AIT). This protocol was developed by Seagate and Sony. All 8mm drives use a coding technique that was originally developed for Video-8 media. The technique has been modified for computer use, to perform with maximum data reliability. This technique is called 'Helical Scan'. QIC (Quarter Inch Cartridge) We support the following QIC formats: QIC-11 * QIC-24 QIC-120 QIC-150 QIC-525 (SLR2) QIC-1000 (SLR3) QIC-4GB (SLR5) * QIC-13GB (MLR1/QIC5010) SLR24 (SLR6) SLR32 (MLR1/MLR2) SLR50 The Quarter-Inch Cartridge was developed by 3M and introduced in the early 1970s. The technology is simple, robust and very reliable. Nevertheless, QIC has never been able to gain a dominant market position. The sheer number of standards (well over 120 different logical formats are known to exist) developed by a great number of manufacturers leads to incompatibility. In an effort to bring order in the format chaos, the "Quarter-Inch Cartridge Standards Inc." was founded. Representatives of 12 companies involved in manufacturing ¼-inch drives and ¼-inch media formed a committee. This group and the standards they promote are called QIC. Apart from these 12 companies, at least 30 other companies are involved with the QIC standard. We only support the DC600 family of tapes; we do not support the DC2000 type mini-cartridge. The newer "multi channel" versions, the SLR/MLR, are discussed below. All QIC formats in the following table use a recording technique called "Group Coded Recording" (GCR). SLR/MLR We support the following SLR/MLR formats: SLR24/SLR6 (12-24GB) MLR1/QIC-5010 (13-26GB) SLR32/MLR2 (16-32GB) SLR50/MLR3 (25-50GB) Since the introduction of the "multi channel" versions of the QIC drives, the nomenclature of both the drives and the medium has been changed. The new name, "SLRx", is according to the new type referral of these QIC formats. "SLR" means "Scalable Linear Recording", sometimes also referred to as "Serpentine Linear Recording". The "old" QIC drives use a maximum density of 46 tracks; the "new" SLR drives start off with track densities of 144. This is an increase of over 300% while the tape width remains unchanged. The SLR drives are capable of recording / reading multiple tracks simultaneously through the use of track sets. Track sets are made up of 2 tracks on the SLR24 through SLR50 drives. The SLR100 even uses 4-track-wide track sets. The speed obviously benefits greatly from this technique. For a short period of time, these drives and tapes were called "MLR", which stands for "Multi channel Linear Recording". One MLR type has survived, however: the MLR1 (13-26 GB). This format is used only in IBM environments. The recording format is known as QIC-5010. DLT & TKxx We support the following DLT formats: TK50/TZ30 TK70 TK85/T826 TK86/T860 TK87/DLT2000/DLT2000XT DLT4000 DLT7000 DLT8000 Digital Linear Technology (DLT) is the result of a steady development of Digital Equipment Corporation's (DEC) own adaptation of the ½-inch magnetic tape. DEC introduced its ½-inch tape drive (the TZ30 a.k.a. TK50) in the mid-1980s as a backup solution for their successful DEC MicroVAX system. The first true DLT system emerged in 1989. DLT technology is currently owned by Quantum Corporation, which acquired it in 1994. A number of OEMs have licensed DLT technology. DLT utilizes serial serpentine recording. Multiple tracks are combined into sets of tracks, with each track set consisting of 2 or 4 tracks, depending on the drive used. This way, multiple tracks are written / read simultaneously, resulting in very high speeds. For instance, the DLT8000 reaches a maximum data transfer rate of up to 40 GB per hour provided that data compression is active. One of the characteristics of these drives is the loading mechanism. The tapes are pulled out of the cartridge and loaded onto a second reel in the drive. That loading mechanism is also the main weakness of these drives. Especially the tape leader strip is prone to damage. The tape leader strip is the end of the tape by which the tape is pulled out of the cartridge. When the leader strip gets damaged, a skilled technician is required to recover the data from the tape. 9 Track (½ Inch Reel) We support the following ½ Inch Reel formats: 800 bpi 1600 bpi 3200 bpi 6250 bpi Ever since the mid-1950s, the magnetic ½-inch reel tape has been a reliable medium for storage and exchange of computer data. By today's standards, however, the size and capacity are unacceptable. Especially in environments where large amounts of data are stored, both the reels and the robotics that handle the reels require much too much space. The ½-inch reel tape has developed from 200 bpi (bits per inch), through 556, 800, 1600 and 3200 bpi to 6250 bpi. The recording technology on those early 200-bpi tapes was based on decimal coding; the concept of "bytes" had not yet been introduced. The tape density developed from 4 tracks on the early machines to 9 Tracks on the most recent models. The technique used to record on a 9-track tape is simple. Each track records 1 bit to make up 1 byte of data. The 9th track is used for parity checking. Some machines use odd parity, some use even parity. The ½-inch reel tape has been superseded by newer ½-inch technologies such as the 3480/3490 cartridge tape drive. 3480/3490 We support the following 3480/3490 formats: 3480 3480 IDRC (3490) IBM developed the 3480 ½-inch-cartridge format for the purpose of data backup and exchange in minicomputer and mainframe environments. Most mainframe sites are equipped with this type of drive, which has become a standard in enterprise data storage solutions. The 3480/3490E media are relatively inexpensive and provide capacities from 200 MB to 2.4 GB with IDRC compression. Younger generations and derived versions of this ½-inch technology (such as 3590, 3590Ext, 9490, 9840 and SD3) are capable of higher capacities and they are much faster because they write more tracks simultaneously. 3480/3490 drives (and their successors) use very complex technologies, often including loaders and even library systems with integrated robotics capable of managing thousands of tapes. This complex technology makes these drives very expensive. They are therefore used almost exclusively in really high-end computer environments like mainframe sites.