[Info-vax] RMS internals?

[Richard B. Gilbert]

Al Kossow wrote:
> 
>> <   But the only 9-tracks drives know I can find are out of commision, in
>> <   the basement of a friend who would like to find parts for them.
>>
> 
> which model?
> 
> Having read literally thousands of 9-tracks, 800bpi is problematic in 2009.
> 1600 and 6250 can be MUCH more reliably read today than 800.

I think a better grade of tape was used for 1600 and 6250.  I no longer 
recall if there were TWO better grades of tape; one 1600 and another for 
6250 bpi.  It has been many long years since I last used reel to reel tape!

It has been almost ten years since I've even seen reel to reel tape or a 
reel to reel drive.  My former employer had a pair of DEC drives.  I 
think they were 1600 BPI.  They were decommissioned and hauled away 
shortly after I joined the organization.  From that point it was all DLT 
or 8mm cartridges.

We got a robot that handled about 100 DLT tapes and that was used for 
all the Windows, Novell, and Unix servers.  Eventually we got client 
software for VMS. . . .

We had damned near everything.  I once counted something like seven 
hardware platforms, and ten different operating systems.  Everything 
from Windows to O/S 370.  The company had grown by acquisition and it 
showed!

Eventually the whole enterprise was acquired by Deluxe which used Novell 
Netware for EVERYTHING.  My services were no longer required.