A report on 9-track tape

IBM 2401 System/360 tape drives that introduced the 9-track format
Full-size reel of 9-track tape
9 Track tape drive used with DEC minicomputers
Inside a 9 Track tape drive. The vacuum columns are the two gray rectangles on the left.
Full size 1/2" tape reel in protective case
Two small 1/2" tapes, front and back
Aluminum foil strips mark the start and end of tape
The write protection ring prevents the tape from being written when removed
A typical library of half-inch magnetic tape
3M 777 High Grade 6250 CPI - Security Computer Tape

Now generally known as 9-track tape.

- 9-track tape
IBM 2401 System/360 tape drives that introduced the 9-track format

9 related topics with Alpha

Overall
An IBM 704 mainframe with IBM 727 7-track tape drives on the left

IBM 7-track

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Now generally known as 7-track tape.

Now generally known as 7-track tape.

An IBM 704 mainframe with IBM 727 7-track tape drives on the left
Reel of 1/2" tape showing beginning-of-tape reflective marker
A write-protection ring had to be inserted in the back of a reel to allow its tape to be written on.
A reel of half-inch magnetic tape being loaded onto an IBM 729 tape drive that is attached to an IBM 1401 being restored at the Computer History Museum.

These tape drives were mechanically sophisticated floor-standing drives that used vacuum columns to buffer long U-shaped loops of tape.

10+1/2 in diameter reel of 9-track tape

Magnetic-tape data storage

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System for storing digital information on magnetic tape using digital recording.

System for storing digital information on magnetic tape using digital recording.

10+1/2 in diameter reel of 9-track tape
Quarter-inch cartridges
An IBM 3590 data cartridge can hold up to 10GiB uncompressed.
Linear
Linear serpentine
Helical
IBM 729V

Tape was an important medium for primary data storage in early computers, typically using large open reels of 7-track, later 9-track tape.

IBM System/360 Model 30 central processor unit (CPU)

IBM System/360

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Family of mainframe computer systems that was announced by IBM on April 7, 1964, and delivered between 1965 and 1978.

Family of mainframe computer systems that was announced by IBM on April 7, 1964, and delivered between 1965 and 1978.

IBM System/360 Model 30 central processor unit (CPU)
IBM System/360 Model 30 central processor unit (CPU)
IBM System/360 Model 20 CPU with front panels removed, with IBM 2560 MFCM (Multi-Function Card Machine)
IBM System/360 Model 30 CPU (red, middle of picture), tape drives to its left, and disk drives to its right, at the Computer History Museum
IBM System/360 Model 50 CPU, computer operator's console, and peripherals at Volkswagen
System/360 Model 65 operator's console, with register value lamps and toggle switches (middle of picture) and "emergency pull" switch (upper right)
IBM System/360 Model 91 operator's console at NASA, sometime in the late 1960s.
Magnetic-core memory, probably from a 360
IBM System/360 Model 40 microcode transformer read-only storage (TROS)
Cable used as Bus or Tag cable for IBM System/360
Bus and tag terminators
A single-width SLT card
Many SLT cards plugged into an SLT board
IBM 2311 disk drive
IBM 2314 disk drives and IBM 2540 card reader/punch at the University of Michigan
IBM 2401 tape drives
IBM 1403 line printer
Model 30
Model 40
Model 44
Model 50
Model 65
Model 67
Model 85
Model 91

Nine-track magnetic tape

A bank of IBM 729 tape drives.

IBM 729

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IBM's iconic tape mass storage system from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s.

IBM's iconic tape mass storage system from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s.

A bank of IBM 729 tape drives.
Reel of tape showing beginning-of-tape reflective marker.
An IBM 729 tape drive being debugged as part of the Computer History Museum's IBM 1401 restoration project. A reel of magnetic tape is being loaded onto the drive. The operator's finger is holding the tape in place on the take-up reel as he takes a few turns to secure the tape leader. An IBM 1403 line printer is in the foreground.
PFC Patricia Barbeau operates an IBM 729 at Camp Smith, Hawaii, in 1969
An IBM 729 V at Deutsches Museum, Munich
IBM 729 tape drives at Computer History Museum (CHM)
Side view of 729 tape drive with cover removed at CHM
Cable used to connect IBM 729 tape drives to each other and to an IBM 1401 computer at CHM

To allow rapid tape acceleration (and thus reduced seek/access times), long vacuum columns were placed between the tape reels and the read/write heads to absorb sudden increases in tape tension which would otherwise break the tape.

Group coded recording

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In computer science, group coded recording or group code recording (GCR) refers to several distinct but related encoding methods for representing data on magnetic media.

In computer science, group coded recording or group code recording (GCR) refers to several distinct but related encoding methods for representing data on magnetic media.

Group coded recording was first used for magnetic tape data storage on 9-track reel-to-reel tape.

Pertec Computer

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Computer company based in Chatsworth, California which originally designed and manufactured peripherals such as floppy drives, tape drives, instrumentation control and other hardware for computers.

Computer company based in Chatsworth, California which originally designed and manufactured peripherals such as floppy drives, tape drives, instrumentation control and other hardware for computers.

Close up of the Altair 8800B. Currently on display at the Living Computer Museum in Seattle, Washington.
Pertec/MITS 300/55 Business System. Currently on display at the Living Computer Museum in Seattle, Washington.

Pertec manufactured multiple models of seven and nine track half-inch tape drives with densities 800CPI (NRZI) and 1600CPI (PE) and phase-encoding formatters, which were used by myriad original equipment manufacturers as I/O devices for their product lines.

Overland Storage

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Wholly owned subsidiary of Sphere 3D Corp. It has acquired Tandberg Data shortly before being acquired by Sphere 3D itself.

Wholly owned subsidiary of Sphere 3D Corp. It has acquired Tandberg Data shortly before being acquired by Sphere 3D itself.

Overland originally manufactured IBM-compatible 9-track tape drives.

Graham Magnetics

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Chartered as Datatape, Inc. in 1964.

Chartered as Datatape, Inc. in 1964.

Graham was the last manufacturer of open-reel 9 track tape, but ceased production at the end of 2001.

Qualstar

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American manufacturer of magnetic tape data storage products, based in Simi Valley, California.

American manufacturer of magnetic tape data storage products, based in Simi Valley, California.

It was founded in 1984 as a 9 track tape drive manufacturer, and now makes tape library products.