High capacity, high reliability data storage

As the capacity of Winchester disks in computers continues to increase, so the capacity of tape backup is forced to keep step. Media based on iron oxide has been the mainstay of the secondary storage industry for several decades, but this form of media is now reaching the limit of its development. A new technology has been developed which will meet the needs of industry for many years to come. Building on the emerging digital audio tape (DAT) technology, the computer tape industry has made a leap in both capacity and data reliability to produce a product with great scope for improvement in the future. This paper describes the principle of rotating head technology, as it is applied to DAT. This is followed by a description of improvements made to bring the technology up to the high standard of operation required by the computer industry