Quad Density 9-Track Tape Drive

M4 Data 9914 9-Track Tape Drive

The 9914 is a full function, horizontal 9-track open reel tape drive supporting all four of the IBM/ANSI/ECMA sanctioned recording formats: 800 (NRZ), 1600 (PE), 3200 (DPE), and 6250 (GCR) bit per inch. It features emulations to attach to all popular host platforms.

And it's easily reconfigurable to adapt to your requirements.

Blazing Tape Speed

The 9914 can provide a sustained data rate of 781K per second by virtue of its nominal 125 inch per second tape speed. Tapes are easily and automatically loaded by simply inserting the media and closing the front door. Ease of use is further enhanced by an alphanumeric display which provides you with operational and status information in plain English (or French or Spanish or German or Dutch, you choose).

New FAST SCSI Option

The previous interface options of standard SCSI and buffered Pertec/Cipher have been extended by the addition of FAST SCSI (SCSI-2). FAST SCSI is a superior interface package that enables the transfer of data at up to 10 MB/second. It also facilitates both single-ended and differential operation, and its high-capacity, built-in buffer (up to 2 MB) enables the 9914 to closely emulate the performance of a stop/start drive... but with all the inherent advantages of a streaming device.

With this choice of interfaces, the 9914 allows almost any type of computer... PC, workstation or mainframe... to access all the many advantages of 9-track tape.

Automatic Tape Loading

The 9914 is very user-friendly. Its simple, straight tape path and air-loading system allow tape to be loaded automatically and the drive to be put on line in ultra-fast time. It accepts all standard tape reel sizes and is whisper-quiet in operation.

Software

Easily installed software handles a wide range of tasks, including:

IBM / ANSI data interchange, file conversion, record select/reject Tape copy and duplicate Disk backup and restore Long block data handling Unix tar-MSDOS file conversion Plus many specialist application options

Best Reliability Rating

The design excellence of the 9914 ensures absolute reliability. Few moving parts, and the use of surface-mount VLSI, contribute to an MTBF* in excess of 25,000 hours. Advanced mechanical design, super-stable precision aluminum tape path, ceramic tape guides that don't touch the tape, and fail-safe over-tension protection, guarantee gentle and accurate tape handling. This results in giving you longer tape life, superb tape/head alignment and less risk of data loss.

Impressive Serviceability

Internal fault-isolating diagnostics, allied with highly modular Field Replaceable Units (FRUs), contribute to an MTTR** of less than 30 minutes.

Diagnostics are self-contained and can be selected from the front panel or host-invoked over the SCSI interface. Access to the interior is gained by simply lifting the hinged main chassis. All assemblies are self-calibrating through the built-in diagnostics, so no adjustments are necessary.

Two-Year Warranty

The 9914 comes with a standard two-year warranty and a world-wide network of factory-trained service specialists.

The 9914 is available for rack-mounting or with stand-alone desktop enclosure.

* MTBF = Mean time between failures;
** MTTR = Mean time to repair