8900-1192 IBM 8900 Mammoth SE/Wide 68pin SCSI Drive w LCD (Black)

Description

The 8900-1192 is the IBM branded Exabyte Mammoth 20/40Gb internal SE Wide SCSI tape drive with LCD.

The Exabyte Mammoth 8900 was the fourth drive in Exabyte’s highly succesful half height 8mm format that has gained industry recognition for its quality and reliability. First released in 1987, The standard half height 5.25-inch half height form-factor allows easy installation and integration into most PC servers and workstations.

The tape backup system packed 20GB of native data onto a 170M tape similar to a Hi8 / Sony D8 camcorder video cassette. Applying helical scan recording technology, which had been used in video products for 30 years, Exabyte produced a compact, relatively inexpensive eight-millimeter tape cartridge drive which could hold unprecedented amounts of data.

Unlike other backup formats at the time, the tapes could also be conveniently removed and stored in a vault. The EXB-Mammoth 8900 was a progression of the exabyte 8mm family and used a new 170M tape.

In contrast to conventional tape drive technology, Exabyte’s helical scan device employed relatively slow-moving tape using heads mounted on a rapidly rotating drum. This method offered several advantages contributing to high recording density.

The need for "tight tolerance" was considerably reduced as the tape drive used only one or two short tracks at a time, rather than multiple, lengthier tracks found in conventional parallel track recording. This method meant that recording tracks could be run closer together. In addition, the helical scan technology permitted the tape to run at a slower rate producing far less stress on the tape. In turn, less stress meant that thinner metal particle tape could be used to record at high densities.

Data tapes used by Exabyte in these 8mm format drives do indeed have a width of 8mm but varied in length.

The Exabyte Mammoth 8900 half height tape drive is an mid generation of the Exabyte 8mm family. It was manufactured by Exabyte for vendors including IBM, Sun and many others for use as standalone internal and external drives targetting both the enterprise as well as later the small business market. This drive format was manufactured in vast quantities and was at one point the most widely used format.

The Exabyte Mammoth 8900 offers 20GB native capacity on a single 170M tape at transfer speeds of up to 3MBps or 10.5GB per hour Native.

The Exabyte EXB-Mammoth 8900 does support data compression and uses the 170M tape media.

The Exabyte Mammoth 8900 offers 20GB native capacity or 40GB compressed capacity on a single 170M tape at transfer speeds of up to 6MBps or 21.1GB per hour. Native, the drive provides 20GB of storage capacity with a transfer speed of 3MBps.

The Exabyte Mammoth 8900 had an useful LCD screen to show the drive status and was available in both a 50pin Ultra SCSI and Diferential SCSI interface versions as well as in a 68 Pin SCSI LVD version.

The Exabyte Mammoth 8900LT was a similar drive but without the LCD screen, it was also available in both a 50pin Ultra SCSI and Diferential SCSI interface versions as well as in a 68 Pin SCSI LVD version.

Media Compatibility

Data Cartridge	Native Capacity	Compatibility
Exabyte 8mm 15M data cartridge	608MB	Read Only
Exabyte 8mm 54M data cartridge	2.4GB	Read Only
Exabyte 8mm 112M data cartridge	5GB	Read Only
Exabyte 8mm 160M data cartridge	7GB	Read Only
Exabyte 8mm 170M data cartridge	20GB	Read and Write

Format Compatibility

Data Cartridge	Compatibility
Exabyte 8200 Format	Read Only
Exabyte 8200c Format	Not Available
Exabyte 8500 Format	Read Only
Exabyte 8500c Format	Read Only
Exabyte 8900 Mammoth	Read and Write

This refurbished product comes complete with a full 3 month return to base warranty.

For help and information on Exabyte drive repairs
and repairs of other tape drives please visit Tape-Drive-Repair.com

For Tape Media please click HERE