Date: Tue, 05 Nov 1996 21:53:47 GMT
Server: NCSA/1.5
Content-type: text/html
Last-modified: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 18:17:05 GMT
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Overview of Current Tape Technology
Back to Jussi Myllymaki's home page.
Manufacturers and Information Sources
Note: all capacity and transfer rate figures in this document are
with no compression.
8mm Technology
8mm Media
Video grade (VG) 8mm tape costs $5, data grade (DG) costs $20.
8mm Tape Drives
Manufacturer |
Tape Drive |
Capacity |
Transfer Rate |
Exabyte |
EXB-8205 |
2.5 GB |
0.263 MB/s |
Exabyte |
EXB-8505 |
5 GB |
0.5 MB/s |
Exabyte |
Mammoth |
20 GB |
3 MB/s |
IBM |
3445 |
5 GB |
0.5 MB/s |
IBM |
7208-011 |
5 GB |
0.5 MB/s |
IBM |
RS/6000 Model 9334/6146 |
2.3 GB |
0.245 MB/s |
IBM |
RS/6000 Model 9334/6147 |
5 GB |
0.5 MB/s |
Conner |
2200HS+ |
2.2 GB |
0.246 MB/s |
Conner |
5000HS |
5 GB |
0.5 MB/s |
8mm Libraries
Manufacturer |
Tape Library |
# Drives/Tapes |
Total Capacity |
Exabyte |
EXB-10e |
1/10 |
50 GB |
Exabyte |
EXB-210 |
2/10 |
50 GB |
Exabyte |
EXB-440 |
4/40 |
200 GB |
Exabyte |
EXB-480 |
4/80 |
400 GB |
Exabyte |
EXB-480 (Mammoth) |
4/80 |
1.6 TB |
IBM |
LS/380L |
?/? |
270 GB |
DAT (4mm) Technology
Overview
First generation DAT (DDS-1 (Digital Data Storage)) drives store 2.0
GB per tape and transfer 0.183 MB/s. With 2:1 data compression, the
capacity is 4.0 GB and speed is 0.366 MB/s.
Second generation DAT (DDS-2) drives store 4.0 GB per tape and
transfer 0.366 MB/s uncompressed. With 2:1 compression, the capacity
is 8.0 GB and speed is 0.732 MB/s.
DAT Media
A DDS-2 cartridge costs $15-20.
DDS-1 Tape Drives
Manufacturer |
Tape Drive |
Capacity |
Transfer Rate |
Wang |
WangDAT 3200 |
2.0 GB |
0.183 MB/s |
Exabyte |
EXB-4200/4200c |
2.0 GB |
0.183 MB/s |
Hewlett-Packard |
HP 35470A |
2.0 GB |
0.183 MB/s |
Hewlett-Packard |
HP 35480A |
2.0 GB |
0.732 MB/s |
IBM |
3440-001 |
2.0 GB |
0.183 MB/s |
IBM |
7206-001 |
2.0 GB |
0.183 MB/s |
Sony |
SDT-2000 |
2.0 GB |
0.183 MB/s |
Conner |
CS/MS 2000DAT |
2.0 GB |
0.183 MB/s |
DDS-2 Tape Drives
Manufacturer |
Tape Drive |
Capacity |
Transfer Rate |
Wang |
WangDAT 3300DX/3400DX |
4.0 GB |
0.366 MB/s |
Sony |
SDT-4000/5000 |
4.0 GB |
0.366 MB/s |
Exabyte |
EXB-4402/4402c |
4.0 GB |
0.233 MB/s |
Exabyte |
EXB-4400 |
4.0 GB |
0.410 MB/s |
Conner |
CS/MS 4000DAT |
4.0 GB |
0.366 MB/s |
Hewlett-Packard |
HP C1533A |
4.0 GB |
0.510 MB/s |
Hewlett-Packard |
HP C2225A |
4.0 GB |
0.366 MB/s |
IBM |
7206-005 |
4.0 GB |
0.366 MB/s |
IBM |
RS/6000 Feature 6142 |
4.0 GB |
0.366 MB/s |
Digital Equipment |
TZL06 DAT |
4.0 GB |
0.366 MB/s |
DAT Libraries
Manufacturer |
Tape Library |
# Drives/Tapes |
Total Capacity |
Wang |
WangDAT LD4 |
1/4 |
16 GB |
Conner |
4L-DATi |
1/4 |
16 GB |
Conner |
12L-DAT |
1/12 |
48 GB |
Conner |
4584NP DAT |
1/16 |
64 GB |
ADIC |
1200D DAT |
1/12 |
48 GB |
Exabyte |
EXB-218 |
2/10 |
40 GB |
Digital Equipment |
TLZ6L Autoloader |
1/12 |
48 GB |
Hewlett-Packard |
HP C1550A |
1/12 |
48 GB |
DLT (Digital Linear Tape) Technology
DLT Tape Drives
Manufacturer |
Tape Drive |
Capacity |
Transfer Rate |
Quantum |
DLT-2000 |
10 GB |
1.25 MB/s |
Quantum |
DLT-4000 |
20 GB |
1.5 MB/s |
Quantum |
DLT-7000 |
35 GB |
5 MB/s |
Digital Equipment |
TZ87 |
10 GB |
1.25 MB/s |
Conner |
MS20DLT |
10 GB |
1.25 MB/s |
Conner |
MS6000DLT |
6 GB |
0.8 MB/s |
DLT Libraries
Manufacturer |
Tape Library |
# Drives/Tapes |
Total Capacity |
Quantum |
DLT4700 |
1/7 |
140 GB |
Digital Equipment |
DLT2700 |
1/7 |
70 GB |
Conner |
L7A-42 |
1/7 |
42 GB |
Half-Inch Technology
Half-Inch Tape Drives
Manufacturer |
Tape Drive |
Capacity |
Transfer Rate |
Density |
# Tracks |
Digital Equipment |
TA91 |
200 MB to 38 GB |
? |
38000 bpi |
18 |
Digital Equipment |
TK50 |
95 MB |
? |
6667 bpi |
22 |
Digital Equipment |
TK70 |
296 MB |
? |
10000 bpi |
48 |
IBM |
3490 |
200-800 MB |
3 MB/s |
? |
9/18/36 |
Metrum |
Model 97 |
? MB |
? MB/s |
50000 bpi |
7/14/28 |
Metrum |
RSP-2150 |
14.5-18 GB |
2 MB/s |
50000 bpi |
2 |
Metrum |
RSP-2150 |
14.5-18 GB |
2 MB/s |
50000 bpi |
2 |
Half-Inch Libraries
Manufacturer |
Tape Library |
# Drives/Tapes |
Total Capacity |
Digital Equipment |
TL3Vx |
?/4 |
58 GB |
IBM |
3490-C11 Autoloader |
x/x |
14.4 GB |
IBM |
3494 Dataserver |
x/x |
13.5 GB to 45.5 TB |
Metrum |
RSS-600b Storage Library |
x/x |
10.8 TB |
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jussi@cs.wisc.edu