History (1989): Exabyte Doubles Capacity and Transfer Rate of 8mm Helical Scan Drive

The new EXB-8500 from Exabyte Corp. (Boulder, CO) offers twice the storage capacity and twice the transfer rate of the previous EXB-8200 cartridge tape subsystem, of which more than 60,000 units have been shipped worldwide, according to the company.

The new product’s storage capacity is 5GB and transfer rate is 500KB/s. It achieves search at speeds up to 37MB/s.

The 5.25-inch EXB-8500 also offers backward compatibility with the previous EXB-8200 and to write tapes that can be read by an EXB-8200. Exabyte will continue to market the EXB-8200.

The new type subsystem writes two tracks simultaneously in the same space that the EXB-8200 writes one track. In addition to a servo head, the EXB-8500 is equipped with a pair of write heads and a pair of read heads; the EXB- 8200 has one of each. Drum speed of the EXB-8500 will be 2% faster, enough to achieve a 500KB/s sustained transfer rate in streaming mode. Instantaneous transfer rate is 4MB/s in synchronous mode and 1.5MB/s in asynchronous mode.

EXB-8500 bit error is 1×10¹³ in interchange mode. Reliability is rated at 30,000 hours for typical usage.

Additional enhancements over the EXB-8200 tape cartridge subsystem include: variable block packing, for increased storage efficiency and capacity; short file marks, for increased capacity and throughput; space-to-end-of data command, for quicker response to host requests; remote SCSI ID setting, for easier integration into stand-alone configurations.

Beta shipments of the EXB-8500 will begin in second quarter 1990. Production shipments are scheduled for 2Q90.

OEM quantity purchase price is $3,895.

This article is an abstract of news published on the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter on issue ≠23, published on December 1989.