SureStore DAT8 max capacity

[Dennis Morris]

I am attempting to back up 10GB of information to tapes for this drive. Current tapes have an 8GB capacity by using compression. If I buy longer tapes will they work with my drive or do I need to replace drive with a higher capacity drive?

[Florian Heigl (new acc)]

No, longer / newer tapes won't be usable.

DDS2 is 120m, DDS3/4/5 are 125M and won't take the mechanical strechting they'll have to survive in a DDS2 drive. (I once, just once tested a DDS4 tape in DDS1 drive, so I can tell You :)

You can either use an application that is able to span multiple tapes for the backup, or switch to a more current tape. I'd recommend the latter, as the performance will also greatly increase.

DDS3: 12/24GB
DDS4: 20/40GB
DDS5: 36/72GB
(if possible go with these, they're called HP Surestore 72i)

Florian