» Sign-in with HP Passport | » Register
HP.com Home Products and Services Support and Drivers Solutions How to Buy
» Contact HP
Search:
More options
 
hp.com home


HP Support document

» 

Business Support Center

HP Passport Sign-in

» Sign-in with HP Passport
» Register
» Learn more...

Tasks

» Download drivers and software
» Troubleshoot a problem
» Setup, install, and configure
» Discover and use a product
» Perform regular maintenance
» Upgrade and migrate
» Recycle and dispose
»

Resources

» Customer Self Repair
» Diagnose problem or Chat (HP Instant Support)
» Support Forums
» Guided troubleshooting
» Manuals
» Submit a support case
» See more...
» Help
» Site map
» HP Support Center

HP StorageWorks DDS/DAT Media - DDS/DAT Media Compatibility Matrix


Overview
The DDS (Digital Data Storage) formats build on the 4 mm DAT (Digital Audio Tape) format to meet the more stringent needs of computer data storage. As the DDS technology has developed, so new standards have been produced, each allowing more data to be stored on a single cartridge. Briefly, the development of the DDS formats to date has been as follows:
  • DDS-1 - DDS-1 was originally called DDS. It used 60m and 90m cartridges and did not allow hardware data compression.
  • DDS1-DC DDS1-DC, or simply DDS-DC - extended DDS-1 to include hardware data compression. This typically doubled the capacity of a tape.
  • DDS-2 - DDS-2 included the features of DDS-1 and DDS-DC, but increased the amount of data that could be written to a single cartridge in two ways:
    • It used longer, thinner tapes (120m).
    • It wrote data in narrower tracks.
    Together these features meant that a DDS-2 tape could hold twice the data of a DDS-1 90m tape.
  • DDS-3 - DDS-3 stores data at twice the density of DDS-1 and DDS-2, and also allows more of the tape to be used for data. As a result, a DDS-3 (125m) tape holds three times the data of a DDS-2 tape.
  • DDS-4 - DDS-4 tape, at 150m, is longer than DDS-3 (125m) tape. It holds holds two-thirds more data than a DDS-3 tape.
  • DAT-72 - DAT-72 tapes are 170m long and data is written in narrower tracks, again increasing data density, enabling tapes to hold 80% more data than DDS-4 tapes.
  • DAT-160 - DAT-160 tapes are 154m long and data is written at a higher density than DAT-72, enabling the tapes to store up to 160GB of data.
  • DAT-320 - DAT-320 tapes are 153m long and data is written at a higher density than DAT160, enabling the tapes to store up to 320 GB of data.
HP Surestore/Storageworks DAT Media Compatibility
Choosing Cartridges
To exploit the full potential of a DDS-format drive, matching cartridges should be used: DDS-3 cartridges for DDS-3 drives, DDS-4 cartridges for DDS-4 drives, and DAT 72 cartridges for DAT 72 drives.
This will allow the drives to store the maximum amount of data on a tape. However, HP DDS drives are backward compatible. This means that, for example, a DAT 72 drive can read and write DDS-4 tapes. Note that it will use DDS-4 format, so the full advantage of DAT 72 will be lost. Drives are not forward compatible, so, for example, a DDS-4 drive cannot read or write a DAT 72 tape. It will simply eject it.
Read/Write Compatibility Table
The table below summarizes which drive can write and read which tapes.
  DDS-1 StorageWorks Media

DDS-2 StorageWorks Media

DDS-3 StorageWorks Media

DDS-4 StorageWorks Media

DAT 72 StorageWorks Media DAT 160 StorageWorks Media DAT 320 StorageWorks Media
HP Surestore 2000/5000 Write/Read No No No No No No
HP Surestore/StorageWorks

Write/Read Write/Read No No No No No
HP Surestore/StorageWorks

Write/Read Write/Read Write/Read No No No No
HP StorageWorks DAT40 Hotplug No Read Only Write/Read Write/Read No No No
HP Surestore/StorageWorks

No Write/Read Write/Read Write/Read No No No
HP StorageWorks DAT 24 USB No Write/Read Write/Read No No No No
HP StorageWorks DAT 40 USB No Write/Read Write/Read Write/Read No No No
HP StorageWorks DAT 72 USB No No Write/Read Write/Read Write/Read No No
HP StorageWorks DAT-72 / 72x6 No No Write/Read Write/Read Write/Read No No
HP StorageWorks DAT 160 SCSI Tape Drive No No No Write/Read Write/Read Write/Read No
HP StorageWorks DAT 160 USB Tape Drive No No No Write/Read Write/Read Write/Read No
HP StorageWorks DAT 320 SAS No No No No No Write/Read Write/Read
HP StorageWorks DAT 320 USB No No No No No Write/Read Write/Read
HP StorageWorks DAT40 Hotplug Drive (Q1546A)
Please be aware that media compatibility for the HP StorageWorks DAT40 Hotplug drive is different to the media compatibility for other HP Surestore DAT40 drives.
The table below displays a matrix of difference in media compatibility.
  DDS-1 Media DDS-2 Media DDS-3 Media DDS-4 Media DAT-72 Media DAT-160 Media
HP StorageWorks DAT40 Hotplug drive No Read only Read/Write Read/Write No No
HP Surestore DAT40 drive No Read/Write Read/Write Read/Write No No
DDS-Logo Media
To identify computer-grade DDS media easily, look for the DDS logos. These indicate that the media meets the DDS specifications laid down by the ECMA, ISO/IEC and ANSI standards. Logos for the various generations of DDS tape are shown in the table below.
Logo Description
DDS/DDS-1 logo
DDS-1 MRS logo
DDS-2 logo
DDS-3 logo
DDS-4 logo
DAT-72 logo
DAT-160 logo
DAT-320 logo
Media Recognition System
The Media Recognition System (MRS) enables drives to identify DDS-grade media. DDS MRS cartridges have a series of stripes on the transparent leader at the beginning of the tape. HP drives can be configured to treat non-MRS tapes as write-protected. In other words, the drive will only be allowed to read non-MRS cartridges, not write to them. DDS-1 MRS tapes can be recognized by the logo shown in the illustration above. MRS is used on all DDS-2, DDS-3, DDS-4 and DAT 72 tapes with the logos shown above.
Cartridges with the old DDS/DDS-1 logo are in no way inferior; they simply do not carry the stripes on the leader tape, so the drive cannot recognize them as DDS. All DDS-1 cartridges produced from early 1993 should have the Media Recognition System stripes.

   Content feedback
To help us improve our content, please provide your feedback below.

1. How does the information on this page help you?

   very helpful somewhat helpful not helpful
 

2. Was it easy to find this document?

   easy not easy

3. If you selected not easy for question 2, in which section did you expect to find it?

     

4. Comments:

 
 
- Your feedback will be used to improve our content. Please note this form is for feedback only, so you will not receive a response.
Contact HP if you need technical assistance.

Printable versionPrintable version
Privacy statement Using this site means you accept its terms Feedback to webmaster
© 2013 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.