Identifying Media

Photographs to help you identify an unknown computer tape.

This page contains a general description and small photo of several computer tapes. You can click on the tape photo for a larger picture and more information.

We only list tapes we convert, but we don't show all tapes we can convert.

When several tapes appear similar and are the same size, we only show a picture of one of them.  For example, all SLR quarter-inch tapes look the same, so we only show one picture.  And all LTO tapes look the same except for color, so we only show one picture.

For information about our conversion services, please see Conversion Services

Please note: DISC does not sell media; we convert data from IBM mainframe and VAX VMS computers to PCs.
This information is provided as a service to our conversion customers.

-- Enterprise Tapes --
3480, 3490, & 3490E Photo: 3480   3480 & 3490 use the same media, called 3480. 3480 cartridges are a solid color, usually black. 3490E are the same size and look similar, but use a different tape. 3490E tapes have a cream-color cartridge bottom.	Details
3570: 3570B, 3570C, 3570CXL Photo: 3570CXL   There are "B" tapes with a blue write-protect lever, "C" tapes with a green lever, and "C-XL" extra length tapes with a red lever.	Details
3590: 3590J and 3590K media for 3590B, 3590E, 3590H tape drives Photo: 3590 J media   3590B, 3590E, and 3590H tape drives all use the same media. There are standard length "J" and extended length "K" tapes available.	Details
3592: 3592-JA, 3592-JB, 3592-JJ, 3592-JW, 3592-JX, 3592-JR media for 3592-J1A, 3592-E05 TS1120, 3592-E06 TS1130 tape drives Photo: 3592-JA media   3592-JA, 3592-JB, 3592-JJ are re-writable tapes. 3592-JW, 3592-JX, 3592-JR are write-once tapes. Click the photo at the right for details and drive compatibility.	Details
9840 (StorageTek) Photo: 9840   20 GB uncompressed center-load cartridge. For use in StorageTek T9840 drives.	Details
9940 (StorageTek) Photo: 9940   60 or 200 GB uncompressed single-spool cartridge. For use in StorageTek T9940 drives.	Details
9-track Photo: 2400' tape on a 10.5" reel   (Shown at half the scale of other pictures on this page.)   Other common sizes:   600' on a 7" reel 1200' on a 8.5" reel 2400' on a 10.5" reel 3600' of thin tape on a 10.5" reel   2400' is the standard size.	Details Half the scale of other pictures on this page.
-- TK, DLT, SDLT, LTO Tapes --
TK-50 & TK-52 (TK-70) (CompacTape I & II) Photo: TK-52 (TK-70)   TK-50 looks similar, but uses different media.   The TK-50 drive uses TK-50 tape. The TK-70 drive uses TK-52 tape, which is often referred to as TK-70.	Details
DLT III & DLT IV (CompacTape III & IV) Photo: DLT IV   DLT III looks similar but uses different media.	Details
Super DLTtape I, Super DLTtape II Photo: Super DLTtape I   SDLT-I for the SDLT-220, SDLT-320 drives. SDLT-II for the SDLT-600 drives.	Details
LTO Ultrium 1, Ultrium 2, Ultrium 3, Ultrium 4 Photo: LTO-2   For the LTO Ultrium 1, 2, 3, and 4 drives. Click on the image of the tape for drive and media details.	Details
-- 4mm, 8mm Helical Scan Tapes --
4mm DDS (DAT) Photo: DDS-3   DDS-1, DDS-2, DDS-3, DDS-4 (DAT 40), DDS-5 (DAT 72) all look similar, but use different tape and drives. Click on the tape for details.	Details
8mm Photo: 112M   There are 3 types of media, in several lengths, 6 recording formats, and over a dozen drive models.  All media have the same dimensions. Click on the tape for details.	Details
AIT Photo: AIT1   AIT is 8mm tape, but with a memory chip in the cartridge. It is not interchangeable with other 8mm drives. DISC supports two tape formats: AIT1 and AIT2	Details
Mammoth Photo: Mammoth 1 170 Meter   There are two recording formats (Mammoth and Mammoth 2), three drive models (Mammoth Lt., Mammoth 8900, and Mammoth 2), and seven different tapes. Click on the tape for details.	Details
VXA Photo: VXA-V6   VXA is 8mm tape, but with a different media formulation than other 8mm tapes.  It is not interchangeable with other 8mm drives. There are three tape formats: VXA-1, VXA-2, and VXA-320, and several tape lengths. Click on the image of the tape for more information.	Details
-- QIC, SLR Tapes --
DC-2xxx & DC-3xxx Photo: DC-2000   DC-2xxx and DC-3xxx are all the same appearance, but different media. The tape is either .250" or .315" wide. Effective 2010 DISC no longer converts DC-2xxx or DC-3xxx tapes.	Details
DC-3xx, DC-6xx, DC-6xxx, DC-9xxx, Magnus, SLR, MLR media for QIC, MLR, SLR tape drives Photo: DC-6037   There are many tapes in this series. All use the same size cartridge, but different media. Click image for lots more information.	Details
-- Other Kinds of Tapes --
ADR-30, ADR-50 Photo: ADR 50   ADR-30 is slightly smaller ADR tapes are used in OnStream drives. The tapes are linear recording, 8mm wide. DISC offers limited conversions of ADR tapes.	Details
Sony DTF Photo: DTF-1 GW-730L 42 GB   There are two drives: DTF-1 and DTF-2, and different tape lengths. Click on the tape image for details. NOTE: Due to its large size, this tape is pictured at 50% scale, compared to other images on this page.	Details

For information about our conversion services, please see Conversion Services

Please note: DISC does not sell media; we convert data from IBM mainframe and VAX VMS computers to PCs.
This information is provided as a service to our conversion customers.