 | |
| Industry | Computer |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1980 in Costa Mesa, California |
| Defunct | 1993 |
| Fate | Acquired by Conner Peripherals |
| Products | Tape drives |
Number of employees | 3,367 (1990) |
Archive Corporation was a computer tape drive manufacturer, based in Costa Mesa, California, that was acquired by Conner Peripherals in 1993.
The company was founded in 1980 and based out of Costa Mesa, California. [1] The company employed 3,367 in 1990 and reached revenues of US$293 million in that year, up from $79 million in 1986. [2]
Of particular note are the Archive DDS tape drives produced for Silicon Graphics that could also read and write Digital Audio Tapes: the Archive Python 4320 and the Archive Peregrine 4326 (rebranded under Conner or Seagate). [3]
Prior to this, Archive was a leading vendor of the very popular quarter-inch cartridge (QIC) format which was a popular distribution format for Unix workstations and servers. For example, software for the Sun-3 (running the Motorola 68K family) and the Sun-4 (based on SPARC processors) was most commonly distributed on QIC media before CD-ROMs became more cost-effective. Archive was better known for their QIC drives. [4]
Conner Peripherals acquired Archive in 1993. [5]
In 1989, Archive acquired Maynard Electronics. [6] The MaynStream brand of tape drives and software was maintained. [7]
In March 1990, Archive acquired Cipher Data Products for $118 million. [8] This included Cipher's subsidiary Irwin Magnetic Systems. [9]
Packard Bell Electronics, Inc., was an American computer company independently active from 1986 to 1996, now a Dutch-registered computer manufacturing brand and subsidiary of Acer Inc. The company was originally founded in 1986, after Israeli-American investors bought the trademark rights to the Packard Bell Corporation from Teledyne. The investors wanted to name their newly formed personal computer manufacturing company producing discount computers in the North American markets. In the late 1990s, Packard Bell became a subsidiary of Japanese electronics conglomerate NEC, Packard Bell NEC. In 1999, NEC stopped its North American operations and focused squarely the division on the European market, where it continued to sell PC and laptop under the Packard Bell name. In 2006, NEC divested Packard Bell, and in 2008, the brand was acquired by the Taiwanese consumer electronic firm Acer, in the aftermath of their takeover of Gateway, Inc.
Gateway, Inc., previously Gateway 2000, Inc., was an American computer company originally based in Iowa and South Dakota. Founded by Ted Waitt and Mike Hammond in 1985, the company developed, manufactured, supported, and marketed a wide range of personal computers, computer monitors, servers, and computer accessories. At its peak in the year 2000, the company employed nearly 25,000 worldwide. Following a seven-year-long slump, punctuated by the acquisition of rival computer manufacturer eMachines in 2004 and massive consolidation of the company's various divisions in an attempt to curb losses and regain market share, Gateway was acquired by Taiwanese hardware and electronics corporation Acer, in October 2007 for US$710 million.
Quarter inch cartridge tape is a magnetic tape data storage format introduced by 3M in 1972, with derivatives still in use as of 2016. QIC comes in a rugged enclosed package of aluminum and plastic that holds two tape reels driven by a single belt in direct contact with the tape. The tape was originally 1⁄4 inch (6.35 mm) wide and anywhere from 300 to 1,500 feet long. Data is written linearly along the length of the tape in one track, or written "serpentine", one track at a time, the drive reversing direction at the end of the tape, and each track's data written in the opposite direction to its neighbor. Since its introduction, it has been widely used, and many variations exist. There is a QIC trade association that publishes QIC standards which include interfaces and logical formats. To a very large extent it was the efficiency and openness of this organization which encouraged hardware and software developers to use this type of drive and media.
The Ditto drive series was a proprietary magnetic tape data storage system released by Iomega during the 1990s. It was marketed as a backup device for personal computers.
Conner Peripherals, Inc., was a company that manufactured hard drives for personal computers. Conner Peripherals was founded in 1985 by Seagate Technology co-founder and San Jose State University alumnus Finis Conner. In 1986, they merged with CoData, a Colorado start-up founded by MiniScribe founders Terry Johnson and John Squires. CoData was developing a new type of small hard disk that put the capacity of a 5.25-inch drive into the smaller 3.5-inch format. The CoData drive was the first Conner Peripherals product. The company was partially financed by Compaq, who was also a major customer for many years.
Certance, LLC, was a privately held company engaged in design and manufacture of computer tape drives.
DC100 is a tape cartridge format that was co-developed by Hewlett-Packard and 3M. Introduced in mid-1976, it was developed as a data storage mechanism for the HP 9820 programmable calculator. The DC100 tape cartridge was a scaled-down version of the DC300 cartridge pioneered by 3M, and represents an early version of what is now referred to as the QIC Mini Cartridge. 3M was the exclusive source of DC100 tapes, while drives were manufactured by 3M and several third parties.
Irwin Magnetic Systems, Inc., also known as Irwin Magnetics, was a computer storage manufacturer founded in 1979 and based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. At its height, the company employed 600 people in Ann Arbor. The company's primary product lines were magnetic tape data storage systems, most popularly the proprietary AccuTrak format. This format was widely adopted by Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and other OEM manufacturers; it was also incorporated into IBM Personal System/2 (PS/2) personal computers as an option. In 1989, the company was acquired by Cipher Data Products for US$77 million. Cipher was in turn acquired by Archive Corporation a year later. Archive maintained Irwin as an independent brand for a while after the acquisition.
Tecmar Inc. was an American manufacturer of personal computer enhancement products based in Solon, Ohio. The company was founded in 1974 by Martin Alpert, M.D., and Carolyn Alpert. The company's first products were computerized medical equipment; the company shortly after pivoted to data acquisition boards for the first generation of microcomputers. Popular products included the Scientific Solutions LabMaster series of boards for S-100 and Apple Computer.
The Apple Tape Backup 40SC is an external, SCSI-interfaced, 1⁄4-inch (6.35 mm) QIC, mini-cartridge tape drive. It was first introduced by Apple Inc. in 1987 and discontinued in 1994. The drive came bundled with Retrospect backup software. The drive is also compatible with the tape software included with A/UX.
Advanced Logic Research, Inc. (ALR), was an American computer company founded in 1984 in Irvine, California by Gene Lu. The company marketed IBM PC compatibles across that standard's evolution until 1997 when it was acquired by Gateway 2000. ALR had a reputation for beating its larger competitors to market with compatibles featuring cutting-edge technologies. However, it struggled with brand recognition in the fiercely competitive market of low-end PCs in the mid-1990s. According to computer journalist and collector Michael Nadeau, "ALR's business strategy was to be the first to market with the latest and fastest possible PC-compatible designs", a strategy that "often succeeded".
The Keyboard Company, Inc., was an American electronics company based in Garden Grove, California. It was contracted by Apple Computer to produce the keyboards of their microcomputers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The company also produced a number of peripherals separately for Apple's systems. Apple acquired the company in 1982 and renamed it the Apple Accessory Products Division (APD).
Decision Data Computer Corporation, later Decision Industries Corporation and Decision Data Inc., was an American computer hardware company founded in 1969 and based in Horsham, Pennsylvania.
CMS Enhancements Inc. was an American computer company headquartered in Irvine, California. Founded in 1983, the company's main product lines in the 1980s were internal and external hard drives and tape drives. The company's hard drives were chiefly sourced from Seagate and reconfigured in bespoke configurations for certain computing platforms, such as the Macintosh, the IBM PC, and the Compaq Deskpro, among others.
Amdek Corporation was an American computer peripheral and system manufacturer active from 1981 to the mid-1990s. The company was renowned for their standalone computer monitors compatible with a wide array of systems from the early microcomputer era to the personal computer age. According to PC World in 1994, "Amdek was once the name in PC monitors. Chances are the monochrome monitors most of us used once carried the Amdek label." In the early 1980s, the company was majority owned by the Roland Corporation's Taiwanese subsidiary; in 1986, after a brief period of independence, the company was acquired by Wyse Technology, a maker of computer terminals, who continued the Amdek brand into at least 1995.
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Reveal Computer Products, Inc., was a short-lived American computer peripheral manufacturer active from 1992 to 1996. It was established as a subsidiary of Packard Bell Electronics, an American computer company. The company was once a major player in the IBM PC peripheral market, with annual sales peaking above the US$200 million mark. It went bankrupt in 1996 after an aborted $65-million merger with Creative Technology.
BusLogic, Inc., was an American computer company active from 1988 to 1996. It specialized in the production of Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) device controller chips and controller expansion cards, becoming a dominant player in that market, behind only Adaptec. In 1996, the company was acquired by Mylex Corporation.
Colorado Memory Systems, Inc. (CMS), was an American technology company independently active from 1985 to 1992 and based in Loveland, Colorado. The company primarily manufactured tape drive systems, especially those using quarter-inch cartridges (QIC)s, for personal computers and workstations. Colorado Memory Systems was founded by Bill Beierwaltes as an offshoot of his previous company, Colorado Time Systems, also based in Loveland. It was acquired by Hewlett-Packard in 1992.
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