Magstar

A high-performance magnetic tape technology from IBM. The Magstar is the latest model in the half-inch, single-hub cartridge line that comprises the 3480, 3490 and 3490e. Designated the 3590, the Magstar boosts capacity to 20GB and provides ESCON and SCSI connectivity to IBM mainframes and midrange systems. Tape libraries are available that hold from a handful to thousands of cartridges. See Magstar MP and magnetic tape.

                               Raw       Raw tfr
 Type     Year  Tracks  Length Capacity  Rate
 3480     1984   18     160 m  200MB     3MB/sec
 3490     1989   18     160 m  400MB     3MB/sec
 3490e    1991   36     300 m  800MB     3MB/sec
 3590 B11 1995  128     300 m  10GB      9MB/sec
 3590 E11 1999  256     300 m  20GB     14MB/sec

Magstar Cartridges

Magstar and Magstar MP are very different tape technologies. Magstar uses a half-inch, single-hub cartridge, while Magstar MP uses an 8mm cassette-style cartridge that starts in the middle for faster retrieval. Both use linear recording.

L490E Tape Library

This tape library from Overland Data reads and writes 3480, 3490 and 3490e cartridges. Overland Data's tape drives were the first to support multiple cartridge formats. (Image courtesy of Overland Data Inc.)