Tape compatablity

Generally, either tape drive will read the tapes if they are compatable. The difference is that the same software that was used to write the tape must be used on the new drive to read the tape. The formats of the tapes are not compatable from one program to another.

Vickie

As far as the world of 4mm is concerned, yes, you are fine to recover from a different drive manufacturer.

There are problems on the higher end models (DLT's nad LTO's... Ultriums and such). For the 100gb tapes and higher, some have a coding which is put there by the drive itself, so the only way to recover the backup or catalogue the backup is to use the original drive. Otherwise, the media comes up as bad media. Only way to recover from this is a media wipe which can be done at offsite locations for 5-20 dollars a wipe.

But any and all 4mm will work in any drive that is compatible (i.e. a dds2 tape - works in dds2,3,4; a dds3 tape - works in dds3,4; a dds4 - works in dds4).

Good luck.