QIC (Quarter-Inch Cartridge)

A QIC, or Quarter-Inch Cartridge, is a type of magnetic tape storage format used for data backup and archival in the past. It consists of a compact reel of magnetic tape enclosed in a cartridge roughly a quarter of an inch wide. QIC tapes are designed for computer data storage, offering reliable, removable storage for computers and tape drives. They were popular in the 1980s and 1990s for small to medium-sized data backups before being largely phased out in favor of newer storage technologies.