The IBM 7701 Magnetic Tape Transmission Terminal was a communications device announced by IBM in 1960. It was designed to transfer the contents of a reel of magnetic tape over a leased or dial telephone circuit.
The IBM 7702 was a similar device that could communicate at higher speeds. [1]
The 7701 was the first product introduced in conjunction with IBM's TELE-PROCESSING trademark. [2]
The 7701 communicated using the Synchronous transmit-receive (STR) communications protocol over either private or switched (message service) telephone lines. It operated at speeds of either 75 or 150 characters per second (cps). The 7702 operated at speeds of either 150, 250, or 300 characters per second. [1]
The devices used a special incremental magnetic tape drive that was controlled by the STR communications unit. The drive used standard one half inch, seven track magnetic tape reels recorded at 200 bytes per inch (BPI). It moved the tape on demand in increments of .005 inches (0.13 mm) and was capable of reading data under the read/write head even when the tape was stationary. Either binary or BCD tapes could be processed.
The 7701 could communicate with a remote computer system or with another 7701 or 7702.
The 7701 was 58 inches (150 cm) high, 29 inches (74 cm) wide, and 31 inches (79 cm) deep.
A tape drive is a data storage device that reads and writes data on a magnetic tape. Magnetic-tape data storage is typically used for offline, archival data storage. Tape media generally has a favorable unit cost and long archival stability.
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The IBM 729 Magnetic Tape Unit was IBM's iconic tape mass storage system from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s. Part of the IBM 7-track family of tape units, it was used on late 700, most 7000 and many 1400 series computers. Like its predecessor, the IBM 727 and many successors, the 729 used 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) magnetic tape up to 2,400 feet (730 m) long wound on reels up to 10+1⁄2 inches (270 mm) diameter. To allow rapid tape acceleration, long vacuum columns were placed between the tape reels and the read/write heads to absorb sudden increases in tape tension which would otherwise break the tape. Write protection was provided by a removable plastic ring in the back of the tape reel.
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Magnetic-tape data storage is a system for storing digital information on magnetic tape using digital recording.
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