The latest in DAT cartridge technology, with more reliability and greater capacity and performance, can be hooked up to HP 3000s, according to customers and vendors. Using DDS-4 is a better performer than prior generations of DAT tape, and also less expensive than going to the leading backup performance choice, DLT. But the HP SureStore DAT 40 DDS-4 tape units use a different type of SCSI interface than the single-ended SCSI hookup offered on the HP 3000’s backplane. Placing a $300 SCSI/SE to SCSI differential (HVD) converter between a Series 9x9 HP 3000 and DDS-4 tape does the trick, according to Hi-Comp’s Denys Beauchemin and Steve Dirickson’s WestWin Consulting. The key to the interface is to have a single-ended SCSI interface on the HP 3000, not a fast-wide. Both experts mentioned converter products from Paralan, which has a Web page for the devices at www.paralan.com/sd10.html. An external version of the HP tape drive is priced at a little less than $1,500 from HP’s Web site.