TapeNET README
Copyright (c) 2023-2026 by avk1im
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TapeNET is a free, open-source software package for backing up files to -- and restoring them from -- tape drives on Microsoft* Windows* and .NET*. It spans the whole spectrum of tape hardware: from the charmingly inexpensive USB-connectable drives to the cutting-edge SAS-connected LTO* devices.
TapeNET features include:
- Support for popular USB-connectable tape drives -- including Sony* AIT*, DAT 160/320 (DDS6/DDS7), and DLT* VS1 -- as well as modern LTO drives
- Flexible file selection: directly or with wildcards, from multiple directories, optionally including subfolders
- A powerful filtering language (FCL -- File Conditions Language) for selecting files by name, path, size, date, and attributes -- with optional AI-assisted natural-language translation
- Optional data-integrity protection using hashing algorithms such as Crc32 or Crc64, with Validate and Verify operations
- Incremental backups: capturing only the files that changed since the last backup, with chain-aware restore
- Multi-volume backups: spanning large backup sets across several tape volumes
- Virtual drives: file- or RAM-backed tape emulation, so you can try every workflow without any hardware
- Remote operation: driving a tape drive hosted on another machine over the network, with optional TLS
TapeNET currently includes:
- TapeConNET (
tapecon) -- a full-featured command-line backup utility for Windows 10 and 11 - TapeWinNET (
TapeWin) -- a GUI tape backup manager for Windows: tree-based navigation, a structured log pane, FCL filtering, and an integrated help system - TapeServiceNET (
tapesvc) -- a Windows Service / console host that exposes a tape drive over the network via gRPC, enabling remote backups - TapeLibNET -- the core tape I/O library: drives, agents, table of contents, streams, and serialization
- FclNET -- the File Conditions Language for flexible file filtering
- FclAiNET -- AI-assisted natural-language to FCL translation
- HelpNET -- AI-assisted interactive help system
- AiNET -- the underlying AI assistant library, with support for multiple AI providers and models
Both tapecon and TapeWin are full-featured backup utilities that also
illustrate the usage of the underlying libraries. For more information on using
tapecon, start it with --help command line option; for TapeWin, press F1
anywhere in the app to open its built-in interactive help.
CAUTION: When backing up important data, it's advisable to follow best backup practices -- employing multiple backup methods, not relying solely on any single tool, and verifying or validating your backups regularly.
In an age of instant cloud sync and terabyte SSDs, reaching for a tape drive can feel charmingly out of step with the times. And yet -- tape endures, not out of nostalgia alone, but because it still does some things better than anything else.
The popular USB-connectable tape drives -- Sony AIT, DAT 320 (DDS7), DLT VS1 -- and the cassettes and cartridges that feed them have become wonderfully inexpensive, precisely because the world assumed they were obsolete. Many people view them as relics. But there is a certain rustic charm in the quiet whir of a tape spinning up -- a tactile, deliberate ritual of preservation in a very modern software environment. You can hold your backup in your hand and put it on a shelf.
Portable hard drives and solid-state drives (SSDs) certainly beat tape on raw capacity and read/write speed. Even so, the humble tape drive holds real advantages:
- Lower cost per capacity -- media prices have fallen dramatically
- Multi-volume support for large backup sets, spreading a backup across several inexpensive cartridges
- Long shelf life and WORM (write once, read many) capability
- Near-total protection from viruses and ransomware -- malware cannot reach even a loaded tape, let alone one stored on a shelf
Tape is not only a nostalgia act. At the high end, LTO (Linear Tape-Open) is one of the most advanced storage technologies in active development:
- Enormous capacity -- modern LTO generations store tens of terabytes of compressed data on a single cartridge, with the roadmap reaching into the hundreds
- Blistering streaming throughput -- fed a steady stream of data, an LTO drive sustains transfer rates that rival or exceed fast disks
- Hardware encryption and WORM built into the drive, for compliance-grade archives
- The true air-gap -- an ejected cartridge is physically disconnected: no network, no remote attacker, no accidental deletion can touch it. This is why hyperscale data centers and film studios still trust tape for their cold-storage and disaster-recovery tiers
The popular USB-connectable drives are fully supported by Windows 10 and Windows 11, including drivers through the standard Windows distribution and/or Windows Update. Yet the selection of backup software that can actually use them has been modest: most contemporary applications either ignore tape entirely or only speak to expensive professional LTO* systems. The software that can work with LTO drives in turn tends to be highly expensive. TapeNET closes that gap -- a free, open-source backup application that drives both the inexpensive USB-connectable drives and modern LTO hardware.
TapeNET is free, open-source software distributed under the MIT license. Refer to the license file LICENSE.txt for more information.
This software includes the following Microsoft DLLs as dependencies:
- Microsoft.Extensions.*.dll
- System.IO.Hashing.dll
These DLLs are part of the .NET runtime and libraries, which are covered by the .NET Library License. You have the right to redistribute these files as part of this software, provided that you comply with the terms of the .NET Library License.
For more information, please refer to the Microsoft .NET Library License.