Maxell’s 160GB DAT Tapes Will Sell in May

High-end backup solutions have long passed the 160GB mark, but the new size is a landmark for the DDS format.

Consumer options for data back-up just got a little bigger, literally. Maxell announced Friday that it will roll out its new 160GB DAT tapes in May. Although they won’t set any size records in the general world of tape storage, the new tapes will have the largest capacity for the DDS format, which is commonly considered to be an affordable entry-level tape system.

Maxell achieved the boost in capacity by widening the tape and re-engineering the cartridge design. Despite the changes, the new tapes will still fall in the same form factor, which means they will be backward compatible with existing DAT 72 and DDS-4 systems.

The new tapes will also be the first of their kind to offer WORM (Write Once, Read Many) capability. This will allow the tapes to meet Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA compliance, which are regulations that determine how securely companies must store data like employee records and private health information.

"The development of DAT 160 and Maxell’s immediate product launch into the market is a prime example of our focused commitment and leadership role within the storage media industry," said Steven Pofcher, Senior Marketing Manager at Maxell in a statement. "We are providing the highest quality data storage media and services that our customers can trust when backing up their business-critical information."

The company’s press release made no mention of how much the new tapes would cost.