Information and Communication Technology

2.1.37 Magnetic Tapes

Magnetic tapes are sequential access secondary storage media. Types of magnetic tape include:

1. Reel-to-reel tapes
2. Cassette tapes
3. Cartridge tapes

Reel-to-reel tapes

Large computers use tape drives to store and read data on reels of tape as shown in the illustration. A reel of magnetic tape is half inch in width and can store 1,600 to 6,000 characters per inch along its 2,400 feet length.

Cassette and cartridge tapes

Tape drives attached to early personal computers used cassette tapes similar to the familiar audio cassettes. Cassettes and reels are now being replaced by cartridge tapes . These cartridges are self-contained in hard plastic cells that are easy to mount in a tape drive and store when not in use. They can hold between 40 MB and 10 GB of data.