DDS (Digital Data Storage)
More info
- Creator
- Sony, HP
- Released
- 1989
- Type
- Tape format (4 mm)
- Predecessor
- DAT tape
The data-backup format that borrowed DAT's 4 mm helical-scan tape and became a server-room workhorse from 1989 on.
DDS took consumer technology — Sony's DAT audio tape — and turned it into a computer format. Sony and HP standardised DDS in 1989: the same 4 mm tape and rotating slanted heads (helical scan), but with error correction and block sizes tuned for files rather than audio. DDS-1 held 2 GB; the line ran through DDS-4 and on to DAT-72, DAT-160 and finally DAT-320.
The selling point was price. A DDS drive cost a fraction of a DLT unit and was plenty for a single server, so the format became the default choice for small and midsize sites for a couple of decades. HP ended development around 2009, once disk backup and LTO had eaten the low and high ends respectively.