Archive Corporation was a computer

tape drive A tape drive is a data storage device that reads and writes data on a magnetic tape. Magnetic tape data storage is typically used for offline, archival data storage. Tape media generally has a favorable unit cost and a long archival stability. ...

manufacturer, based in Costa Mesa, California, that was acquired by

Conner Peripherals Conner Peripherals (commonly referred to as Conner) was a company that manufactured hard drives for personal computers. Conner Peripherals was founded in 1985 by Seagate Technology co-founder and San Jose State University alumnus Finis Conner ( ...

in 1993.

History

The company was founded in 1980 and based out of Costa Mesa, California. The company employed 3,367 in 1990 and reached revenues of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

293 million in that year, up from $79 million in 1986. Of particular note are the Archive DDS tape drives produced for

Silicon Graphics Silicon Graphics, Inc. (stylized as SiliconGraphics before 1999, later rebranded SGI, historically known as Silicon Graphics Computer Systems or SGCS) was an American high-performance computing manufacturer, producing computer hardware and sof ...

that could also read and write Digital Audio Tapes: the Archive Python 4320 and the Archive Peregrine 4326 (rebranded under Conner or Seagate). Prior to this, Archive was a leading vendor of the very popular quarter-inch cartridge (QIC) format which was a popular distribution format for Unix workstations and

server Server may refer to: Computing *Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients Role * Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...

s. For example, software for the

Sun-3 Sun-3 is a series of UNIX computer workstations and servers produced by Sun Microsystems, launched on September 9, 1985. The Sun-3 series are VMEbus-based systems similar to some of the earlier Sun-2 series, but using the Motorola 68020 microp ...

(running the Motorola 68K family) and the

Sun-4 Sun-4 is a series of Unix workstations and servers produced by Sun Microsystems, launched in 1987. The original Sun-4 series were VMEbus-based systems similar to the earlier Sun-3 series, but employing microprocessors based on Sun's own SPARC V7 RIS ...

(based on

SPARC SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture originally developed by Sun Microsystems. Its design was strongly influenced by the experimental Berkeley RISC system develope ...

processors) was most commonly distributed on QIC media before CD-ROMs became more cost-effective. Archive was better known for their QIC drives.

acquired Archive in 1993.

Acquisitions

In 1989, Archive acquired

Maynard Electronics Maynard Electronics was an American company based in Lake Mary, Florida that produced magnetic tape data storage related products. The company was founded by Kim and Alison Knapp in 1982. It was acquired by Archive Corp. in 1989, but the brand ...

. The ''MaynStream'' brand of tape drives and software was maintained. In March 1990, Archive acquired Cipher Data Products for $118 million. This included Cipher's subsidiary

Irwin Magnetics Irwin Magnetic Systems was a computer storage manufacturer founded in 1979 and based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. At its height, the company employed 600 people in Ann Arbor. The company's primary product line was magnetic tape data storage systems, ...

References

External links

* * {{tech-company-stub 1980 establishments in California 1993 disestablishments in California 1993 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Costa Mesa, California Computer companies established in 1980 Computer companies disestablished in 1993 Defunct companies based in California Defunct computer companies based in California Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies