The 3480 Tape format was introduced by IBM in 1984. The 3480 tape drive was a popular drive due to it’s speed, reliability, durability and low media cost. The tape is ½” wide and is packaged in a 4"x5"x1" cartridge. The cartridge contains a single reel and there is a take-up reel is inside the tape drive.
Initially the 3480 was designed to attach to a mainframe computer and communicate through a bus and tag interface. Later models were made available with a SCSI and Escon interface. SCSI interface made it possible to connect 3480 family tape drives to personal computers, which enabled mainframe-to-pc data exchange.
The 3480 tape drive was the first tape drive to employ thin-film heads. The drive was able to read and write linear data across 18 recording tracks simultaneously with a relatively high data transfer rate: 3 megabytes per second. The 3480 technology replaced IBM's prior 9 recording tracks and achieved only 1600/6,250 bytes per inch of tape.
The 3480 format could store 200 megabytes of data per tape cartridge as opposed to the 100 megabytes on the 6250 1/2" tape reels.
IBM added a hardware-based data compression option in 1986; Improved Data Recording Capability (IDRC). This increased the capacity to 400MB’s per cartridge. The 3480 tape drive with IDRC was known as a 3490 Tape Drive.
IBM released the 3490E Tape Drive in 1991 enabling the drive to read and write linear data across 36 tracks with a capacity of 800MB’s per cartridge. The IDRC option allowed a capacity of up to 2400MB’s.
The 3490E tape drive was able to read data written on 3480 and 3490 tape drives. Some the 3490E tape drives were capable of writing 348, 3490 and 3490E formats. The 3490E media is the same as the 3480 media, except that it is longer.
IBM installed their 3490E drives within their 3494 library. A fully laden 3494 library was capable of holding up to 32 drives and 6,240 cartridges.
All three formats were also made available with an Auto Cartridge Loader (ACL) with different capacities. Capacities ranged from 7 cartridges to 60.
Other manufacturers of 3480, 3490 and 3490E tape drives included Fujitsu, M4 Data, Overland Data, StorageTek and Victor Data Systems (VDS).
Some of the model on hand:
DEC TKZ60, TKZ61, TKZ62, TKZ64 FUJITSU M2488C IBM 3490E
OVERLAND DATA TAPE EXPRESS T490E MP SYSTEMS MP 8436 PHILLIPS TD3620 TANDEM 5194 TANDEM 5196 FUJITSU M2483K/N & M2485K/N FUJITSU M2488E OVERLAND DATA TAPE EXPRESS L490E PHILLIPS TD3610 M4 DATA M490E
MP SYSTEMS MP 8436F
Sunstar Company continues to sell and refurbish 3480, 2390 and 3490E tape drives.
When purchasing from Sunstar we will need to know the following information:
Interface required
Single Load or Auto Cartridge Loader (ACL) Option
Table Top or rack mount
The 3480, 3490 and 3490E format was replaced by the IBM 3590 family of drives.
Please do contact Sunstar Company if you have any questions regarding these legacy tape drives. We repair, refurbish and sell these units for a world-wide market.
(800) 663-5523; (310) 330-2900; or by email info@sunstarco.com
Many Thanks
Sunstar Company, Inc
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