Tape drive in the context of Random access

A hierarchical database model is a data model in which the data is organized into a tree-like structure. The data are stored as records which is a collection of one or more fields. Each field contains a single value, and the collection of fields in a record defines its type. One type of field is the link, which connects a given record to associated records. Using links, records link to other records, and to other records, forming a tree. An example is a "customer" record that has links to that customer's "orders", which in turn link to "line_items".

The hierarchical database model mandates that each child record has only one parent, whereas each parent record can have zero or more child records. The network model extends the hierarchical by allowing multiple parents and children. In order to retrieve data from these databases, the whole tree needs to be traversed starting from the root node. Both models were well suited to data that was normally stored on tape drives, which had to move the tape from end to end in order to retrieve data.

Helical scan is a method of recording high-frequency signals on magnetic tape, used in open-reel video tape recorders, video cassette recorders, digital audio tape recorders, and some computer tape drives.

With this technique, magnetic tape heads (or head chips) are placed on a rotating head drum, which moves the chips at high speed by due to its high angular velocity. The speed of the head chips must be higher than the linear speed of the tape. The tape is wrapped tightly around the drum. The drum and/or the tape is tilted at an angle that allows the head chips to read the tape diagonally. The linear speed of the tape is slower than the speed of the head chips, allowing high frequency signals to be read or recorded, such as video. As the tape moves linearly or length-wise, the head chips move across the width of the tape in a diagonal path. Due to geometry, this allows for high head chip speeds, known as writing speeds, to be achieved in spite of the low linear speed of the tape. The high writing speed allows for high frequency signals to be recorded. As each head chip enters into contact with the tape, it creates or reads long and narrow areas with information recorded magnetically known as tracks. In Helical scan, these tracks are positioned diagonally, relative to the length of the tape. The diagonal tracks read or written using this method are known as helical tracks.

The following is a list providing an overview of all the different tape cartridge and cassette formats that use magnetic tape. Both "cassette" and "cartridge" refer to a small plastic unit containing a length of magnetic tape on at least one reel. The unit may contain a second "take-up" reel or interoperate with such a reel in an associated tape drive. At least 142 distinct types have been known to exist.

The phrase cassette tape is ambiguous in that there is no common dictionary definition so depending upon usage it has many different meanings, as for example any one the one of 106 different types of audio cassettes, video cassettes or data cassettes listed at The Museum of Obsolete Media.

Magnetic-tape data storage is a system for storing digital information on magnetic tape using digital recording. Commercial magnetic tape products used for data storage were first released in the 1950s and have continued to be developed and released to the present day.

Tape was an important medium for primary data storage in early computers, typically using large open reels of 7-track, later 9-track tape. Modern magnetic tape is most commonly packaged in cartridges and cassettes, such as the widely supported Linear Tape-Open (LTO) and IBM 3592 series. The device that performs the writing or reading of data is called a tape drive. Autoloaders and tape libraries are often used to automate cartridge handling and exchange. Compatibility was important to enable transferring data.

Parallel ATA (PATA), originally AT Attachment, also known as Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), is a standard interface designed for IBM PC-compatible computers. It was first developed by Western Digital and Compaq in 1986 for compatible hard drives and CD or DVD drives. The connection is used for computer storage such as hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk, and tape.

The standard is maintained by the X3/INCITS committee. It uses the underlying AT Attachment (ATA) and AT Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI) standards.

The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, colloquially known as the "Trash-80", later renamed the TRS-80 Model I to distinguish it from its successors) is a desktop microcomputer developed by American company Tandy Corporation and sold through their Radio Shack stores. Launched in 1977, it is one of the earliest mass-produced and mass-marketed retail home computers. The name is derived from Tandy Radio Shack Z80, referring to its Zilog Z80 8-bit microprocessor.

The TRS-80 has a full-stroke QWERTY keyboard, 4 KB DRAM standard memory, small size and desk area, floating-point Level I BASIC language interpreter in ROM, 64-character-per-line video monitor, and had a starting price of US$600 (equivalent to US$3,100 in 2024). A cassette tape drive for program storage was included in the original package. While the software environment was stable, the cassette load/save process combined with keyboard bounce issues and a troublesome Expansion Interface contributed to the Model I's reputation as not well-suited for serious use. Initially (until 1981), it lacked support for lowercase characters which may have hampered business adoption. An extensive line of upgrades and peripherals for the TRS-80 were developed and marketed by Tandy/Radio Shack. The basic system can be expanded with up to 48 KB of RAM, and up to four floppy disk drives and/or hard disk drives. Tandy/Radio Shack provided full-service support including upgrade, repair, and training services in their thousands of stores worldwide.

In computer storage, a tape library is a physical area that holds magnetic data tapes. In an earlier era, tape libraries were maintained by people known as tape librarians and computer operators and the proper operation of the library was crucial to the running of batch processing jobs. Although tape libraries of this era were not automated, the use of tape management system software could assist in running them.

Subsequently, tape libraries became physically automated, and as such are sometimes called a tape silo, tape robot, or tape jukebox. These are a storage devices that contain one or more tape drives, a number of slots to hold tape cartridges, a barcode reader to identify tape cartridges, and an automated method for loading tapes (a robot). Such solutions are mostly used for backups and for digital archiving. Additionally, the area where tapes that are not currently in a silo are stored is also called a tape library. One of the earliest examples was the IBM 3850 Mass Storage System (MSS), announced in 1974.