Magnetic tape has been used to store data since the early days of computing. Despite advances in other storage technologies like hard disk drives and solid state drives, magnetic tape remains an important medium for data archiving and backup due to its high capacity, low cost, long durability, and portability.
What is magnetic tape?
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928 for recording audio. The first use of magnetic tape for data storage was on the UNIVAC I computer in 1951.
Data is stored on magnetic tape by magnetizing tiny iron-oxide particles embedded in the tape’s coating. The orientation and strength of the magnetic field determines whether a particle is magnetized to represent a 1 or 0 bit. As the tape moves past a read/write head, data can be recorded or played back.
How does data get stored on magnetic tape?
Data is stored on magnetic tape through a process called linear serpentine recording. The tape passes back and forth across the read/write head in a pattern like the serpentine shape of a common garden snake. This allows data to be written in parallel tracks running the length of the tape.
The density of data stored on a tape is measured in bits per square inch. Older tapes could store a few thousand bits per square inch, while modern tapes can store over 100,000. Higher densities are achieved by improving the magnetic materials, using smaller magnetic particles, and utilizing more sensitive read/write heads.
What are the main components of a tape drive system?
A tape drive is the device that records data to and reads data from a magnetic tape. The main components of a tape drive system are:
- Tape cartridge – the physical cassette that holds the magnetic tape.
- Read/write head – the transducer that encodes data to and decodes data from the tape.
- Drive mechanics – the parts like spindles and motors that move the tape.
- Drive electronics – the circuitry that controls the electromechanical components.
- Read channel – the electronics that convert magnetic signals to digital data.
- Controller board – the circuit board that manages the drive operations.
These components work together to provide reliable storage and retrieval of data from magnetic tape.
What are some common tape formats?
There are a number of different magnetic tape formats that have been used over the years. Some of the most common include:
- Linear Tape-Open (LTO) – An open standards magnetic tape format developed in the late 1990s. LTO is designed for backup and archiving. The latest generation, LTO-9, can store up to 18TB of uncompressed data per cartridge.
- Digital Linear Tape (DLT) – An older tape format that was popular for backups. Different sized DLT cartridges stored up to 160GB per tape.
- Quarter-Inch Cartridge (QIC) – An early tape format used for PC backups with cartridges about the size of a VHS tape. Different QIC formats stored 1GB to 320GB.
- 8 mm/AIT/Exabyte – Various tape formats based on 8mm video tape that were used in the 1990s. These stored up to 50GB per cartridge.
In addition to these formats aimed at the PC market, there are specialized tape formats like IBM 3592 and Oracle T10000 used in enterprise tape libraries.
What are the advantages of tape drives?
Magnetic tape drives have a number of advantages that have kept them relevant despite competition from newer technologies:
- High capacity – Modern tapes can store multiple terabytes of data per cartridge. An entire tape library can store exabytes of data.
- Low cost – The cost per gigabyte of storage is very low compared to hard drives and flash memory.
- Longevity – Tape cartridges can have a shelf life of 30 years or more if stored properly.
- Portability – Tape cartridges are small and light making them easy to transport and store offsite.
- Reliability – Tape drives have error rates that are orders of magnitude lower than hard drives.
- Energy efficiency – When not mounted in a drive, tapes require no power and have a very low environmental footprint.
These advantages make tape ideal for long-term data archiving and backups.
What are some limitations of tape storage?
Tape also has some limitations compared to newer storage technologies:
- Sequential access – To access a particular piece of data, you need to read through all the preceding data.
- Slower performance – Disk and flash drives have much faster data transfer rates.
- Bulkier at scale – Storing a few petabytes requires racks full of tapes vs compact disk arrays.
- Vulnerable media – Tape cartridges can be damaged by mishandling, heat, or magnetic fields.
- Mechanical components – Tape drives contain more moving parts than solid-state storage.
So while tapes work well for infrequently accessed data, they aren’t suitable for applications requiring fast random access.
What are the main uses of tape backup?
The key advantages of tape make it well-suited for these archival and backup applications:
- Archive storage – Tape is ideal for storing large amounts of unchanging data, like medical images and old emails, that need to be retained for years.
- Disaster recovery – Tapes can be stored offsite to recover data in the event of equipment destruction or loss.
- Backup – Daily incremental backups can be made to tape to restore recent data if disks fail.
- Big data – With multi-terabyte capacities, tape is one of the most economical ways to back up enormous data sets.
Tape remains an essential medium for any business, organization, or data center that needs cost-effective long-term data storage and protection.
Are there alternatives to tape for backup and archiving?
While tape remains dominant, there are some alternatives for long-term data retention:
- Hard disk drives – More expensive per terabyte than tape but offer faster random access.
- Solid-state drives – All flash storage with higher density but much higher costs than tape or HDDs.
- Cloud storage – Services like Amazon S3 Glacier provide low-cost archival storage but rely on network availability.
- Optical discs – Slow and low density compared to tape but very cheap per disc.
- On-prem object storage – Software-defined storage systems that can use mixed media for cost-effective capacity.
Each alternative has trade-offs compared to tape in terms of speed, cost, access convenience, and long-term reliability. For large-scale archiving, tape retains significant advantages over other storage media.
What does the future hold for tape storage?
Tape technology continues to evolve to offer greater capacities. The roadmap for future tape drive developments includes:
- Increasing bit density through advanced servo tracking and thinner media coatings.
- More tracks and heads for parallel read/write operations.
- Shingled magnetic recording to increase linear density.
- Stronger error correction codes to improve reliability.
- Higher-performance data compression using machine learning algorithms.
These innovations could increase tape drive native capacities up to around 100TB per cartridge. Higher capacities and lower costs will help tape remain relevant for the long-term storage needs of big data and the exponential growth of digital information.
Tape vendors are also focused on improving ease of use by integrating tape with cloud and object storage. Automated policy-based tiering to tape provides simpler archiving workflows. At the same time, there is increased adoption of the Linear Tape File System (LTFS) for direct, intuitive file access via disk-like mount points.
Conclusion
Despite being developed over 70 years ago, magnetic tape remains indispensable for affordable long-term data retention. Tape drives continue to advance with higher capacities through ongoing technological innovations. While tape faces competition from disk, flash, and cloud storage alternatives, it still excels for backup and archiving applications where cost-efficiency, longevity, and capacity are critical factors.
With a unique combination of portability, low power requirements, and decades-long shelf life, tape provides data protection and retention capabilities that no other storage medium can match cost-effectively. Tape’s strengths seem likely to keep it a key part of the data storage landscape well into the foreseeable future.
