Travan
Encyclopedia
Magnetic tape
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic recording, made of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic. It was developed in Germany, based on magnetic wire recording. Devices that record and play back audio and video using magnetic tape are tape recorders and video tape recorders...
cartridge design developed by the 3M
Imation
Imation is a US based multi-national technology corporation that designs, manufactures and sells recordable data storage media, consumer electronics products and accessories.The company is a 1996 spin off of 3M and is headquartered in Oakdale, Minnesota...
company, used for the storage of data in computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
backup
Backup
In information technology, a backup or the process of backing up is making copies of data which may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form is back up in two words, whereas the noun is backup....
s and mass storage
Mass storage
In computing, mass storage refers to the storage of large amounts of data in a persisting and machine-readable fashion. Devices and/or systems that have been described as mass storage include tape libraries, RAID systems, hard disk drives, magnetic tape drives, optical disc drives, magneto-optical...
. 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 Travan format competes mainly against the DDS
Digital Data Storage
Digital Data Storage is a format for storing computer data on a Digital Audio Tape .DDS uses tape with a width of 3.8mm, with the exception of the latest formats, DAT 160 and DAT 320, which are 8mm wide...
, AIT
Advanced Intelligent Tape
Advanced Intelligent Tape is a discontinued high-speed, high-capacity magnetic tape data storage format developed and controlled by Sony. It competed mainly against the DLT, LTO, DAT/DDS, and VXA formats. AIT uses a cassette similar to Video8. Super AIT is a higher capacity variant using wider...
, and VXA
VXA
VXA is a tape backup format originally created by Ecrix and now owned by Tandberg Data. After the merger between Ecrix and Exabyte, VXA was produced by Exabyte Corporation...
formats.
Generations
| Generation | TR-1 | TR-3 | TR-4 | TR-5/NS20 | TR-7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Release date | 1995 | 1995 | 1997 | 1998 | 2002 |
| Data capacity | 400 MB Megabyte The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000... |
1.6 GB Gigabyte The gigabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage. The prefix giga means 109 in the International System of Units , therefore 1 gigabyte is... |
4 GB | 10 GB | 20 GB |
| Max speed (MB/s) | 0.25 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 2 | 4 |
| Media format | QIC-80 | QIC-3020 | QIC-3095 | QIC-3220-MC | Travan 640 |
| Min tape length (ft) | 750 | 750 | 740 | 740 | 750 |
| Tape tracks | 36 | 50 | 72 | 108 | 108 |
| Encoding | RLL(1,7) | VR2 (PRML PRML In computer data storage, Partial Response Maximum Likelihood is a method for converting the weak analog signal from the head of a magnetic disk or tape drive into a digital signal. PRML attempts to correctly interpret even small changes in the analog signal, whereas peak detection relies on fixed... ) |
|||
| Tape type | Co-gFe2O3 | Metal Particle | |||
| Coercivity (Oe) | 550 | 900 | 900 | 1650 | 1650 |
| Recording density (ftpi) | 14,700 | 44,250 | 50,800 | 79,800 | 96,000 |
| Data density (bpi) | 67,733 | 106,400 | 192,000 |
TR-1
- Travan TR-1 cartridges offer a 400 MB native capacityNative capacityNative capacity refers to the uncompressed storage capacity of any medium that is usually spoken of in compressed sizes. For example, tape cartridges are rated in compressed capacity, which usually assumes 2:1 compression ratio over the native capacity....
with a 0.25 MB/s transfer rate using the QIC-80 media format.
TR-2
- TR-2 was designed by 3M, but they never marketed it.
- TR-2 cartridges were designed to have an 800 MB native capacity with a 0.25 MB/s transfer rate using the QIC-3010 media format.
- The spec called for 50 tracks across the tape, with a recording density of 22,125 flux transitions per inch (ftpi).
TR-3
- Travan TR-3 cartridges offer a 1.6 GB native capacity with a 0.5 MB/s transfer rate using the QIC-3020 media format.
TR-4
- Travan TR-4 cartridges offer a 4 GB native capacity using the QIC-3095 media format.
- Travan 8 GB cartridges offer a 4 GB native capacity with a 1.2 MB/s transfer rate.
- Travan NS8 cartridges offer a 4 GB native capacity with a 1.2 MB/s transfer rate.
- Imation HP Colorado 5 GB is a 460 ft (140.2 m) variation on the TR-4 standard. It offered 2.5 GB native capacity, 1 MB/s transfer rate.
TR-5
- Travan NS20 cartridges offer a 10 GB native capacity with a 2 MB/s transfer rate.
- Travan 20 GB cartridges offer a 10 GB native capacity with a 2 MB/s transfer rate.
TR-7
- Travan 40 GB cartridges offer a 20 GB native capacity with a 4 MB/s transfer rate.