History (1999): Helical Scan Tape Drive DTF-2 From Sony

At Comdex 1998, Sony demonstrated the successor to its DTF-1 helical scan tape drive, the DTF-2 (up to 100GB/24MB/s).

Now it looks like that version will only be temporary, since the new GY-8240 DTF-2 has just been announced, and will already be available by February, with greater maximum capacity, either 60GB or 200GB per cassette, according to the length of the tape, and still with 24MB/s transfer rate, specs that beat anything else currently on the market. These figures could even be multiplied by 2.6x with built-in ALDC compression, according to the manufacturer.

No price has been mentioned, and that, too, will no doubt set some record highs.

Interface options are Ultra Wide SCSI or FC-AL. The device is based on the Sony Digital Tape Format, with advanced particle media (MP++). It can read data written on DTF-1 cassettes, and at 24MB/s, or twice as fast as on the old DTF-1 units.

By integrating DTF-2 technology into Sony’s Petasite library system, users may attain an uncompressed capacity of 11PB. Each cassette contains a non-contact flash memory to hold data relating to both tape and system management, which are transmitted by RF signal to the drive, to reduce data access time, mid-point tape loading time and loading/ unloading at any location along the length of the magnetic media.

The new DTF drives are computer system versions of the digital instrumentation recorders, DIR-120 (250GB on a L-cassette, 30MB/s) and DIR-240 (250/12), with variable rate recording. Sony has sold roughly 1,000 of both the DTF and DIR units combined, which are also distributed in the U.S. by Metrum-Datatape.

The roadmap projects 400/48 for the DTF-3 and 800/96 for the DTF-4.

This article is an abstract of news published on issue 142 on November 1999 from the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter.