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<h2 id="generations">Generations</h2> <p><i>NOTE: The <a href="/facts/Advanced_Intelligent_Tape/3bfCMDaX">AIT</a> and <a href="/facts/VXA/ga265Waf">VXA</a> formats and some other less common formats also use 8 mm wide tape, but are completely incompatible.</i> </p> <h3>Compatibility between tapes and drives and native capacities (GB)</h3> <table><tbody><tr><td></td><th colspan="4">MP</th><th colspan="4">AME</th><th colspan="3">AME w/ SmartClean</th></tr><tr><td></td><th>15 m</th><th>54 m</th><th>112 m</th><th>160 m</th><th>22 m</th><th>45 m</th><th>125 m</th><th>170 m</th><th>75 m</th><th>150 m</th><th>225 m</th></tr><tr><th>EXB-8200</th><td>0.3</td><td>1.2</td><td>2.4</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>EXB-8205</th><td>0.3</td><td>1.2</td><td>2.4</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>EXB-8205 XL</th><td>0.3</td><td>1.2</td><td>2.4</td><td>3.5</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>EXB-8500</th><td>0.6</td><td>2.4</td><td>5</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>EXB-8505</th><td>0.6</td><td>2.4</td><td>5</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>EXB-8505 XL</th><td>0.6</td><td>2.4</td><td>5</td><td>7</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>EXB-8700</th><td>0.6</td><td>2.4</td><td>5</td><td>7</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>Eliant 820</th><td>0.6</td><td>2.5</td><td>5</td><td>7</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>Mammoth (EXB-8900)</th><td>RO</td><td>RO</td><td>RO</td><td>RO</td><td>2.5</td><td>Y</td><td>14</td><td>20</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>Mammoth-LT</th><td>RO</td><td>RO</td><td>RO</td><td>RO</td><td>2.5</td><td>Y</td><td>14</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th>Mammoth-2</th><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>6</td><td>12</td><td>33</td><td>45</td><td>20</td><td>40</td><td>60</td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Legend: </p> <ul><li>RO - The tape drive can read this tape, but not write. (Read Only)</li> <li>Y - The tape drive can read and write this tape, but its size is not known.</li> <li>Numbered entries indicate the native storage capacity (in GB) for this combination of tape and drive.</li></ul> <h3>Exabyte 8 mm</h3> <p>These drives use <a href="/facts/Metal_particle/bGyqFX7I">metal particle</a> (MP) tape. </p> <ul><li>1987—EXB-8200 <ul><li>Full-height form factor</li> <li>246 kB/s data transfer rate</li> <li>EXB-8200SX model features high-speed search</li> <li>EXB-8205: Up to 5.0 GB on one 112 m data cartridge (assuming 2:1 compression ratio)</li> <li>EXB-8205XL: Up to 7.0 GB on one 160 m data cartridge (assuming 2:1 compression ratio)</li></ul></li> <li>1990—EXB-8500 <ul><li>Full-height form factor</li> <li>500 kB/s data transfer rate</li> <li>EXB-8500c model features hardware data compression</li></ul></li> <li>1992—EXB-8505 <ul><li>Half-height form factor</li> <li>500 kB/s data transfer rate (uncompressed) / 1.0 MB/s data transfer rate (assuming a 2:1 compression ratio)</li> <li>Up to 10.0 GB on one 112 m data cartridge (assuming 2:1 compression ratio)</li></ul></li> <li>1994—EXB-8505XL <ul><li>Half-height form factor</li> <li>500 kB/s data transfer rate (uncompressed) / 1.0 MB/s data transfer rate (assuming a 2:1 compression ratio)</li> <li>Up to 14.0 GB on one 160 m XL data cartridge (assuming 2:1 compression ratio)</li></ul></li> <li>1995—EXB-8700 <ul><li>Tabletop (top-loading) form factor</li> <li>8700 model included generic backup software</li> <li>8700LT model included no software</li> <li>8700SW included Cheyenne backup software</li></ul></li> <li>1998—Eliant 820 <ul><li>Half-height form factor</li></ul></li></ul> <h3>Mammoth</h3> <p>These drives use Advanced Metal Evaporated (AME) tape, but could also read (but not write) MP tapes. </p> <ul><li>1996—EXB-8900 Mammoth <ul><li>3 MB/s data transfer rate</li> <li>LCD on drive displayed drive status</li></ul></li> <li>1999—Mammoth-LT <ul><li>No LCD</li></ul></li></ul> <h3>Mammoth-2 (M2)</h3> <p>These drives used Advanced Metal Evaporated (AME) tape with a 2 m integrated cleaning tape header called <i>Smart Clean</i>. </p> <ul><li>1999—Mammoth-2 <ul><li>12 MB/s data transfer rate</li> <li>4.6 cm/s tape speed during normal read/write operations</li> <li>1.6 m/s tape speed during search and rewind operations</li> <li>17 s load time, from insertion to ready</li> <li>ALDC hardware data compression, 1 kB compression buffer</li></ul></li></ul> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Digital_Data_Storage/9MUHANxR">Digital Data Storage</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070226174943/http://www.exabyte.com/support/online/documentation/whitepapers/history.pdf">A brief history of tape according to Exabyte</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.jetcafe.org/~npc/articles/exabyte-tape-drives.html">Much Ado About Exabyte</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060212022322/http://www.exabyte.com/support/faq/drivetype_mam.cfm">Identifying MammothTape and 8 mm tape drives</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220328100924/https://exabyte.com/support/products/getmanual.cfm?id=139">Mammoth-2 Product Specification</a></li> <li><a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BRZ/is_3_22/ai_110262675">Technical details for several Data8 products</a></li></ul> <h3>Standards</h3> <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170925095515/http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-145.htm">ECMA-145</a> <i>ISO/IEC 11319:1991</i> First specification for 8 mm tape data storage. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161023024712/http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/files/ECMA-ST/Ecma-145.pdf">[1]</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170925095541/http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-169.htm">ECMA-169</a> <i>ISO/IEC 12246:1993</i>, Specification of DA-1 (dual azimuth extension). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130917023246/http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/files/ECMA-ST/Ecma-169.pdf">[2]</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170925095118/http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-249.htm">ECMA-249</a> <i>ISO/IEC 15757</i>, Specification of DA-2 (MammothTape). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160509071257/http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/files/ECMA-ST/Ecma-249.pdf">[3]</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170925094815/http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-293.htm">ECMA-293</a> <i>ISO/IEC 18836</i>, Specification of MammothTape-2. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160331122056/http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/files/ECMA-ST/Ecma-293.pdf">[4]</a></li></ul>