IBM 3590

The IBM 3590 family is a family of tape drives and corresponding magnetic tape data storage media formats developed by IBM. The first drive, having the IBM product number 3590, was introduced in 1995 under the nickname Magstar. The next drive was a 3592, and the newest is a TS1120, both having the nickname Jaguar. They can store up to 700 GB of data (uncompressed) and have a native data transfer rate of up to 104 MB/s. This family superseded the IBM 3480 Family of tape drives popular in 1980s and 1990s.

All of these tape formats have half inch tape spooled onto 4-by-5-by-1 inch data cartridges containing a single reel. A takeup reel is embedded inside the tape drive. Because of their speed, reliability, durability and low media cost, the 3590 tape drives are still in high demand. A hallmark of the genre is transferability. Tapes recorded with one tape drive are generally readable on another drive, even if the tape drives were built by different manufacturers. Magstar tapes and drives are available in 128, 256 and 384-track versions.

Drives

Magstar
- 3590
Jaguar
- 3592
- TS1120

Notes

The Magstar and Jaguar lines of tape drives and media are not compatible with each other.
IBM's 3590 product page
IBM's 3592 product page
IBM's TS1120 product page

Media

	Tracks	Tape length (m)	3590 drive (GB)	3592 drive (GB)	TS1120 drive (GB)
3590 B11/B1A cartridge		320	10
3590 B11/B1A cartridge		634	20
3590 E11/E1A cartridge		320	20
3590 E11/E1A cartridge		634	40
3590 H11/H1A cartridge		320	30
3590 H11/H1A cartridge		634	60
3592 JJ/JR cartridge		610		60	100
3592 JA/JW cartridge		610		300	500
3592 JB/JX cartridge		825			700

Notes

The 320 m long "High Performance" (normal) 3590 cartridges use Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as the base material.
The 634 m long "Extended" 3590 cartridges use Polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) as the base material.
3590 media datasheet
3592 media datasheet

External links

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