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TX-2 Tape System
The TX-2 Tape System was a magnetic tape data storage technology from the late 1950s.R. L. Best and T. C. Stockerbrand, A Computer-Integrated Rapid Access Magnetic Tape System with Fixed AddressProceedings of the Western Joint Computer Conference: Contrasts in Computers May 6-8, 1958; pages 42-46. It is the direct ancestor of LINCtape, used on the LINC laboratory computer. The tape transports used in the system were made as simple and fool-proof as possible, consisting of a read-write head assembly, two reel drive motors, and a tape guide. The tape system used 10 tracks across a tape on reels. Maximum reel speed was 920 inches per second (23.4 metres per second). The system used digital speed control based on a clock track on the tape. The 10-track head assembly contains five channels; three information, one timing, and one block mark. Each channel consists of two redundantly paired tracks, and the paired tracks are nonadjacent to minimize the effect of contamination on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Magnetic Tape Data Storage
Magnetic-tape data storage is a system for storing digital information on magnetic tape using digital recording. Tape was an important medium for primary data storage in early computers, typically using large open reels of IBM 7 track, 7-track, later 9-track tape, 9-track tape. Modern magnetic tape is most commonly packaged in cartridges and cassettes, such as the widely supported Linear Tape-Open (LTO) and IBM 3592 series. The device that performs the writing or reading of data is called a tape drive. Autoloader (data storage device), Autoloaders and tape library, tape libraries are often used to automate cartridge handling and exchange. Compatibility was important to enable transferring data. Tape data storage is now used more for system backup, data archive and data exchange. The low cost of tape has kept it viable for long-term storage and archive. Open reels Initially, magnetic tape for data storage was wound on reels. This standard for large computer systems persis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LINCtape
DECtape, originally called Microtape, is a magnetic tape data storage medium used with many Digital Equipment Corporation computers, including the PDP-6, PDP-8, LINC-8, PDP-9, PDP-10, PDP-11, PDP-12, and the PDP-15. On DEC's 32-bit systems, VAX/VMS support for it was implemented but did not become an official part of the product lineup. DECtapes are 3/4 inch (19 mm) wide, and formatted into blocks of data that can each be read or written individually. Each tape stores 184K 12-bit PDP-8 words or 144K 18-bit words. Block size is 128 12-bit words (for the 12-bit machines), or 256 18-bit words for the other machines (16, 18, 32, or 36 bit systems). From a programming point of view, because the system is block-oriented and allows random seeking, DECtape behaves like a very slow disk drive. Origins DECtape has its origin in the LINCtape tape system, which was originally designed by Wesley Clark at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory as an integral part of the LINC computer. There are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whirlwind (computer)
Whirlwind I was a Cold War-era vacuum tube computer developed by the MIT Servomechanisms Laboratory for the U.S. Navy. Operational in 1951, it was among the first digital electronic computers that operated in real-time for output, and the first that was not simply an electronic replacement of older mechanical systems. It was one of the first computers to calculate in parallel (rather than serial), and was the first to use magnetic-core memory. Its development led directly to the Whirlwind II design used as the basis for the United States Air Force SAGE air defense system, and indirectly to almost all business computers and minicomputers in the 1960s, particularly because of the mantra "short word length, speed, people." Background During World War II, the U.S. Navy's Naval Research Lab approached MIT about the possibility of creating a computer to drive a flight simulator for training bomber crews. They envisioned a fairly simple system in which the computer would continua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
