VXA is a tape backup format originally created by Ecrix and now owned by Tandberg Data. After the merger between Ecrix and Exabyte on 17 November 2001, VXA was produced by Exabyte Corporation. On November 20, 2006, Exabyte was purchased by Tandberg Data that has since stopped further development of the format. [1]
Exabyte and Ecrix describe the data format as "packet technology." [2] Since VXA is based on helical scan technology, data is written across the tape from side to side in helical strips.
The novel part of VXA packet technology is that each stripe starts with a unique packet ID and ends with an ECC packet checksum. As each stripe is written to tape, it is immediately read back to verify that the write was successful.
If the write was not 100% successful the packet can be rewritten at another point on the tape without stopping. When the data is read back, the packets are reassembled into a "buffer" by their packet ID. [3] The buffer has 3 additional ECCs to ensure data integrity.
Another aspect of VXA is that there are 2 read heads for each stripe, slightly offset in relation to each other to allow for more flexibility in reading tapes written by other drives.
Due to the relatively slow tape speed inherent to helical scan technology, the drive is able to stop and start the tape much more quickly to avoid the need to backhitch.
The VXA format competes mainly against the DDS, [4] and DLT-IV [5] formats.
| Generation | VXA-1 | VXA-2 | VXA-3 | VXA-4 | VXA-5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Release date | 1999 | 2002 | 2005 | Unreleased | Unreleased |
| Max native (uncompressed) capacity (GB) | 33 | 80 | 160 | 320 | 640 |
| Max speed (MB/s) | 3 | 6 | 12 | 24 | 48 |
| Encoding | EFM [6] | PRML | |||
| Track width | 9.1 μm | 5.7 μm | |||
| Head | Ferrite | TFMR |
Exabyte released two different product lines based on VXA-3 technology, VXA-320 in 2005 and VXA-172 in 2006. VXA-172 drives are limited to 86 GB per tape cartridge, but can be unlocked (for a fee) to remove the limit. They are otherwise the same. VXA-3 was the first helical scan system in production to feature thin film MR heads.
Media was released on two families (V and X), with different capacities based on the length of the tape, and the drive it is being used in.
| Product | V6 | V10 | V17 | V23 | X6 | X10 | X23 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length (Meters) | 62m | 107m | 170m | 230m | 62m | 124m | 230m |
| Native Capacity | (when used in the given type of drive - empty means not compatible) | ||||||
| VXA-1 | 12 GB | 20 GB | 33 GB | ||||
| VXA-2 | 20 GB | 40 GB | 60 GB | 80 GB | 20 GB | 40 GB | 80 GB |
| VXA-172 | 40 GB | 86 GB | |||||
| VXA-320 | 160 GB | 40 GB | 86 GB | 160 GB | |||
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Travan is an 8 mm magnetic tape cartridge design developed by the 3M company, used for the storage of data in computer backups and mass storage. Over time, subsequent versions of Travan cartridges and drives have been developed that provide greater data capacity, while retaining the standard 8 mm width and 750' length. Travan is standardized under the QIC body. HP Colorado, Iomega DittoMax and AIWA Bolt are proprietary versions of the Travan format.
The 8 mm backup format is a discontinued magnetic tape data storage format used in computer systems, pioneered by Exabyte Corporation. It is also known as Data8, often abbreviated to D8 and is written as D-Eight on some Sony branded media. Such systems can back up up to 60 GB of data depending on configuration. The cassettes have the same dimensions and construction as the cassettes used in 8 mm video format recorders and camcorders.
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NT is a digital memo recording system introduced by Sony in 1992, sometimes marketed under the name Scoopman.
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Digital Tape Format is a magnetic tape data storage format developed by Sony. It uses a 1/2" wide tape, in a cassette with two reels, which is written and read with a helical scan process. The format is described by the ECMA 248 and ISO/IEC 15731 standards. There are two sizes of tape cassettes, "S" and "L".
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Standards of Ecma International | ||
|---|---|---|
| Application interfaces |  | |
| File systems (tape) | ||
| File systems (disk) | ||
| Graphics | ||
| Programming languages | ||
| Radio link interfaces | ||
| Other | ||
List of Ecma standards (1961 – present) | ||