Tape and Drive Compatibility for QIC 117 Standard Tape Backup Units

ID: Q156363

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0

SUMMARY

Compatibilty and tape capacity for QIC 117 standard tape backups depend on the floppy disk drive controller, tape format, and the tape backup unit.

MORE INFORMATION

The controller requirements for floppy disk drive-based backups are as follows:


QIC117 Standard      Supported Tape Formats
===============      ======================
QIC-40               Read/write QIC-40 tapes

QIC-80               Read QIC-40 tapes
                     Read/write QIC/80 tapes
                     Includes WIDE and TR-1 formatted tapes

QIC-3010             Read QIC-40/80 tapes
                     Read/write QIC-3010 tapes
                     Includes WIDE and TR-2 formatted tapes
                     if the drive will accept these

QIC-3020             Read QIC-40/80 tapes and QIC-3010 tapes
                     Read/write QIC-3020 tapes
                     Includes WIDE and TR-3 tapes

To determine the computer's floppy disk drive controller type through the Windows NT registry, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q156362
TITLE : Floppy Controller Requirements for QIC-117

QIC drives will not read tapes formatted with a later QIC Drive series format. For example, QIC-3010 drives will not read QIC-3020-formatted tapes. QIC-40/80 drives will not read QIC-3010 or QIC-3020-formatted tapes.

The drive's functionality and capacity are limited to the lowest common denominator of floppy disk drive controller speed, tape backup unit, or the tape format itself. A QIC-3020 that requires a 1 Mbps controller for full functionality essentially becomes a QIC-3010 series drive when placed on a 500 Kbps controller (and shares the same behavior and limitations as a 3010 Series drive). Compatibility and limitations are summarized in the chart below:


                      Tape Format
QIC117 Standard       40      80     3010    3020
===============       ===========================
40                    RW      x      x       x
80                    R       RW     x       x
3010                  R       R      RW      x
3020                  R       R      R       RW

x = unsupported configuration

Additional query words: tape travan wide qic117 backup

Keywords : kbhw nthw ntbackup NTSrvWkst
Version : WinNT:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type :