DAT may refer to any of the following:

  1. Short for Digital Audio Tape, DAT was initially developed by Hewlett-Packard and Sony as a solution for backing up information on a computer or network. DAT drives and tapes are available in two primary formats, DDS (Digital Data Storage) and DataDAT. DDS drives come in three types, DDS-1, DDS-2, and DDS-3.

  2. A DAT describes a file format and file extension, dat is short for data.

  3. When referring to an antivirus (e.g., McAfee), DAT refers to the file used to update the virus protection software with the latest updates.

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  1. DAT is chat slang for that.
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Computer abbreviations, DDS, QIC, Tape drive terms, Virus signature