History (1988): IBM Compatible 3480 Cartridge Drives from Caliper

The new models CH-360 and CH-722 cartridge tape drives from Caliper Inc. (Torrance, CA) use the IBM 3480 half-inch streaming tape cartridge or equivalent.

CH-360

The units store 360 or 720MB (formatted) of data and are housed in a full-height, industry-standard 5.25-inch form factor.

The intelligent SCSI interface transfers information over a byte-wide bus at burst speeds of 4MB/s (synchronous) or 1.5MB/s (asynchronous).

A full backup of the 360MB takes 17mn and the 720MB unit 34mn at 375KB/s and 79.8ips.

Transfers can occur directly between disk and tape, freeing the host computer for parallel tasks.

Data density is 19,035bpi in double density NRZI.

Data is recorded with 24 serpentine tracks (CH-360) or 48 tracks (CH-722), divided into 12 or 24 pair tracks.

A proprietary two-channel head (write-read-write) ensures data integrity with read after write. The CH-360/722 units are available for evaluation with production volumes scheduled for 2Q89.

The unit has an OEM volume price of $2,950.

This article is an abstract of news published on the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter on issue ≠11, volume ≠1, published on December 1988.