[Help-tar] tar on Microsoft

[Nik Trevallyn-Jones]

Hi All,

I have a simple question about using TAR with a tape-drive on the Microsoft 
platform. Basically, what I am trying to do is move data between a linux box 
and a w2k box using tape. I have downloaded the MSDOS version of tar-1.12, 
but I'm not sure how to pipe the data to the LTO tape device under w2k, or 
indeed if that is even possible.

I know that the MSDOS shell allows unix-style pipe access to COM1 and COM2. Is 
there an equivalent for the tape drive, and if so what is it, or can anyone 
point me in the right direction to finding out?

Alternatively, can anyone suggest some alternative software that could be used 
to write and read compatable tapes on both linux and w2k - preferably open 
source?

Finally, does anyone know which API I should look up to investigate writing a 
pipe-to-tape_device filter for windows?

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.

Cheers!
Nik