THE EMERGING ROLE OF FLEXIBLE MEDIA

Flexible magnetic media data storage sub-systems have played an import ant role in computer systems since the early 1950s. During the 1980s, computer systems rapidly evolved to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse market, and there was a corresponding evolution in tape-based data storage subsystems. This paper reviews the technical advances of several product families that were developed to serve the needs of the data storage market. Because of the great diversity in the market req uirements for tape systems, this paper addresses developments by marke t segments. The second half of this paper reviews the corresponding ad vances in magnetic tape design and manufacture. Historically, improvem ents in electromagnetic performance have received the most attention i n the technical literature. However, mechanical and tribological prope rties are now known to be of equal importance in meeting tape product requirements. Hence, new tapes are designed from the beginning to simu ltaneously optimize electromagnetic, mechanical and tribological perfo rmance. The key design parameters for these properties are discussed.