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Optical tape is a medium for
at the time, these specifications were significantly superior to its primary competitor,
Technical explanation
of Laser Optical Tape Storage technology (LOTS).
Optical tape is a medium for optical storage
IBM defines optical storage as "any storage method that uses a laser to store and retrieve data from optical media." '' Britannica'' notes that it "uses low-power laser beams to record and retrieve digital (binary) data." Compact disc (CD) an ...
generally consisting of a long and narrow strip of plastic onto which patterns can be written and from which the patterns can be read back. It shares some technologies with cinema film stock
Film stock is an analog medium that is used for recording motion pictures or animation. It is recorded on by a movie camera, developed,
edited, and projected onto a screen using a movie projector. It is a strip or sheet of transparent ...
and optical disc
In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc (OD) is a flat, usually circular disc that encodes binary data ( bits) in the form of pits and lands on a special material, often aluminum, on one of its flat surface ...
s, but is compatible with neither. In the 1990s, it was projected that optical tape would be a commonly used, high-capacity, high-speed computer data storage
Computer data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers.
The central processing unit (CPU) of a comput ...
format. At least one working system and several prototypes were developed, but as of 2007, none of these technologies are widely used.
The primary motivation behind developing this technology was the possibility of far greater storage capacities than either magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recording from Denmark. Devices that use magnet ...
or optical disc
In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc (OD) is a flat, usually circular disc that encodes binary data ( bits) in the form of pits and lands on a special material, often aluminum, on one of its flat surface ...
s. For example, the goal of the LOTS project in 1995 was to "achieve a data-transfer rate of at least 100 megabytes per second (MB/s) to store more than 1 terabyte on the IBM cartridge", as well as an average access time of 10 seconds;LOTS status reportat the time, these specifications were significantly superior to its primary competitor,
magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recording from Denmark. Devices that use magnet ...
, which only stored about 10–50 gigabytes per cartridge and had a data-transfer rate of about 15 MB/s. It was also considered more durable than magnetic tape, since it is not vulnerable to magnetic fields and is read by lasers instead of physical contact with a magnetic head.
See also
* Creo — Former manufacturer of Optical tape recorders, now a part ofKodak
The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
.
*TRAAMS (Tape-based Rapid Access Affordable Mass Storage) — An optical tape technology developed by a consortium led by Terabank, Inc..
*LOTS (Laser Optical Tape Storage) — Another optical tape technology developed by LOTS Technology, Inc.of Laser Optical Tape Storage technology (LOTS).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Optical Tape Optical computer storage media