8 mm backup format

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8 mm Tape

The 8 mm Backup Format is a backup system used in computer systems pioneered by Exabyte Corporation. It is also known as Data 8. Such systems can backup up to 40gb of data depending on configuration. The tapes used are very similar in size and appearance to the tapes used in 8 mm video recorders and camcorders.

All 8mm tape drives used for backup before AIT was available were made by Exabyte. The company was created by people who wanted to take the 8mm video format and make it suitable for data storage. They did so by building a reliable mechanism and data format that used the common 8mm video tape technology that was available then. This was the first form of helical-scan tape used commercially for data storage.

Exabyte's first 8mm tape drive was available in 1987. This was followed up with their Mammoth tape drive in 1994, and the M2 in 1999.

Exabyte's drive mechanisms were frequently rebranded and integrated into UNIX systems.

1 Generations
2 See also
3 External links
- 3.1 Standards

[edit] Generations

NOTE: The AIT format is also 8 mm wide, but completely incompatible.

[edit] Compatibility between tapes and drives and native capacities (GB)

	MP				AME				AME w/ SmartClean
	15m	54m	112m	160m	22m	45m	125m	170m	75m	150m	225m
EXB-8200	Y	Y	2.4
EXB-8205	Y	Y	Y
EXB-8205 XL	Y	Y	Y	Y
EXB-8500	Y	Y	5
EXB-8505	Y	Y	5
EXB-8505 XL	Y	Y	5	7
EXB-8700	Y	Y	Y	Y
Eliant 820	Y	Y	5	7
Mammoth (EXB-8900)	RO	RO	RO	RO	2.5	Y	14	20
Mammoth-LT	RO	RO	RO	RO	2.5	Y	14
Mammoth2					6	12	33	45	20	40	60

[edit] Exabyte 8 mm

These drives use Metal Particle (MP) tape.

1987 -- EXB-8200
- Full-Height form factor
- 246 KB/sec data transfer rate
- EXB-8200SX model features high-speed search

1993 -- EXB-8500
- Full-Height form factor
- 500 KB/sec data transfer rate
- EXB-8500c model features hardware data compression

???? -- EXB-8505
- Half-Height form factor

???? -- EXB-8505XL
- Half-Height form factor
- 500 KB/sec data transfer rate

???? -- EXB-8700
- Tabletop form factor
- 8700 model included generic backup software
- 8700LT model included no software
- 8700SW included Cheyenne backup software

???? -- Eliant 820
- Half-Height form factor

[edit] MammothTape

These drives use Advanced Metal Evaporated (AME) tape, but could also read (but not write) MP tapes.

1996 -- EXB-8900 "Mammoth"
- 3 MB/sec data transfer rate
- LCD on drive displayed drive status

???? -- "Mammoth-LT"
- No LCD

[edit] MammothTape-2

These drives used Advanced Metal Evaporated (AME) tape with an 2m integrated cleaning tape header called Smart Clean.

1999 -- "Mammoth-2"
- 12 MB/s data transfer rate
- 4.6 cm/s tape speed during normal read/write operations
- 1.6 m/s tape speed during search and rewind operations
- 17 s load time, from insertion to ready
- ALDC hardware data compression, 1kB compression buffer

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Standards

ECMA-145 ISO/IEC 11319:1991 First specification for 8 mm tape data storage. [1]
ECMA-169 ISO/IEC 12246:1993, Specification of DA-1 (dual azimuth extension). [2]
ECMA-249 ISO/IEC 15757, Specification of DA-2 (MammothTape). [3]
ECMA-293 ISO/IEC 18836, Specification of MammothTape-2. [4]

view • talk • edit	Magnetic tape data storage formats
	Linear	Helical-Scan
Three Quarter Inch (~19 mm)	LINCtape (1962) - DECtape (1963)	Sony DIR (19xx) - Ampex DST (1992)
Half Inch (12.65 mm)	UNISERVO (1951) - IBM 7 Track (1952) - IBM 9 Track (1964) - IBM 3480 (1984) - DLT (1984) - IBM 3590 (1995) - T9840 (1998) - T9940 (2000) - LTO Ultrium (2000) - T10000 (2006)	Redwood SD-3 (1995) - DTF (19xx) - SAIT (2003)
Eight Millimeter (8 mm)	Travan (1995) - IBM 3570 MP (1997)	Exabyte (1987) - Mammoth (1994) - AIT (1996) - VXA (1999)
Quarter Inch (6.35 mm)	QIC (1972) - SLR (1986)
Four Millimeter (3.8 mm)	DC100 (1976) - DECtapeII (1979)	DDS/DAT (1989)
One Eighth Inch (3.18 mm)	KC Standard, Compact Cassette (1975) - Datassette (1977)
Stringy (1.58 - 1.9 mm)	Exatron Stringy Floppy (1979) - ZX Microdrive (1983) - Rotronics Wafadrive (1984)