Travan is an 8 mm

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 magnetic ...

cartridge design developed by the 3M company, used for the storage of data in

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

backup In information technology, a backup, or data backup is a copy of computer data taken and stored elsewhere so that it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form, referring to the process of doing so, is "wikt:back ...

s and

mass storage In computing, mass storage refers to the storage of large amounts of data in a persisting and machine-readable fashion. In general, the term ''mass'' in ''mass storage'' is used to mean ''large'' in relation to contemporaneous hard disk drive ...

. Over time, subsequent versions of Travan cartridges and drives have been developed that provide greater data capacity, while retaining the standard 8 mm width and 750' length. Travan is standardized under the QIC body. HP Colorado, Iomega DittoMax and

AIWA Bolt Aiwa (, stylised aiwa) is a Japanese consumer electronics brand of Aiwa Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Towada Audio holdings. The current company was established in 2017 and creates mainly audio products; the brand is also licensed to or owned by othe ...

are proprietary versions of the Travan format. The Travan format competed mainly against the DDS,

AIT An ait (, like ''eight'') or eyot () is a small island. It is especially used to refer to river islands found on the River Thames and its tributaries in England. Aits are typically formed by the deposit of sediment in the water, which accumu ...

, and VXA formats.

Generations

TR-1

* Travan TR-1 cartridges offer a 400 MB

native capacity Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

with a 0.25 MB/s transfer rate using the QIC-80 media format.

TR-2

* TR-2 was designed by 3M, but they never marketed it. * TR-2 cartridges were designed to have an 800 MB native capacity with a 0.25 MB/s transfer rate using the QIC-3010 media format. * The spec called for 50 tracks across the tape, with a recording density of 22,125 flux transitions per inch (ftpi).

TR-3

* Travan TR-3 cartridges offer a 1.6 GB native capacity with a 0.5 MB/s transfer rate using the QIC-3020 media format.

TR-4

* Travan TR-4 cartridges offer a 4 GB native capacity using the QIC-3095 media format. * Travan 8 GB cartridges offer a 4 GB native capacity with a 1.2 MB/s transfer rate. * Travan NS8 cartridges offer a 4 GB native capacity with a 1.2 MB/s transfer rate. * Imation HP Colorado 5 GB is a variation on the TR-4 standard. It offered 2.5 GB native capacity, 1 MB/s transfer rate.

TR-5

* Travan NS20 cartridges offer a 10 GB native capacity with a 2 MB/s transfer rate. * Travan 20 GB cartridges offer a 10 GB native capacity with a 2 MB/s transfer rate.

TR-7

* Travan 40 GB cartridges offer a 20 GB native capacity with a 4 MB/s transfer rate.

Technology

Travan uses a linear track technology, with data written onto individual tracks over several successive passes. Fully reading or writing a tape to full capacity may require moving the tape from reel to reel many times. The tape is not attached to the hubs, but is wrapped and held by friction. The tape is prevented from coming off at the ends using small holes punched in the tape, which are detected by optical sensors in the tape drive using a 45-degree mirror inside and a window on the side the cartridge. It also uses an indirect tension-band drive system, consisting of an elastic band that presses on the exterior of both reels, and also over an idler wheel on the edge of the case. A motor in the drive contacts the idler to move the tape. Because the reels wind and unwind at unequal speeds there is always some slippage occurring when the tape is in motion; frequent retensioning of the tape (achieved by winding the tape fully forwards and then backwards at high speed) is required to prevent this problem. Old tapes used many times tend to have a visibly marked stripe down the center of the tape where the band has pressed into the tape. Unlike some competing technologies such as

Digital Linear Tape Digital Linear Tape (DLT; previously called CompacTape) is a magnetic-tape data storage technology developed by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from 1984 onwards. In 1994, the technology was purchased by Quantum Corporation, who manufactured ...

(DLT) and

Linear Tape-Open Linear Tape-Open (LTO), also known as the LTO Ultrium format, is a magnetic tape data storage technology used for backup, data archiving, and data transfer. It was originally developed in the late 1990s as an open standards alternative to the pro ...

(LTO), Travan technology does not automatically verify data after writing. Data verification must be done separately by the computer operator, to verify data was written successfully. If a separate verify operation is not performed after each backup, it is possible for backups to be found to be corrupt and unusable when the tapes need to be used.

References

External links

Imation - Travan Data Cartridges

{{Magnetic_tape_data_formats Computer storage tape media