Digital Linear Tape DLT was formerly common as CompacTape. DLT is a attractive tape media information storage technology. The DLT tape was introduced and developed by Digital Accoutrement Partnership December from 1984 onwards. Quantum purchased the DLT technology in 1994. Quantum Firm currently manufactures the drives and licenses the trademark and technology. The dewy and higher energy chronicle of DLT tape is called the SDLT Super DLT.

DLT Technology is thriving as one of the most successful, widely-available technology platforms ever built. Over 3.3 million drives and over 130 million media cartridges admit been shipped to date. DLT drives are recognized worldwide as the production standard. In fact, 98% of FORTUNE 500 businesses stock their mission-critical facts to DLT Technology. DLT Technology provides a diversity of automation-ready solutions suited to the employment continuity needs.

DLT uses linear serpentine disc with multiple tracks on half-inch (12.7 mm) broad tape. The cartridges include a unmarried reel. The tape is pulled absent of the cartridge by way of a dignitary tape attached to the takeup waver inside the drive.

During the load mode the operate commander tape is buckled to the cartridge leader.

The tape quickness and tension are controlled electronically via the stagger motors and there is no capstan. The tape is guided by 4 to 6 rollers. These rollers matchless touch the back side of the tape and the tape facts is metal particle tape (MP/AMP)

The SDLT backup tape has an optical servo course that reads servo patterns on the back of the tape, in grouping to deal in the counsel tracks on the front of the tape licence aligned with the read/write heads. This is influential for newer tape media, which corner mere thin tough news tracks; 256, 384 and 768 info tracks on a half inch wide tapes are at the moment common. DLT7000 and 8000 tilt the belief backward and forward to lower crosstalk between closest tracks ended azimuth. This means is called Symmetric Event Recording

All SDLT drives aid hardware material compression. The most commonly used compression fixin's is of 2:1. This compression is generally particular achievable for words data. 1.3:1 to 1.5:1 is a extended realistic aspect across a string system. The guide compression applied to pre-compressed data can absolutely bring about the written data larger than having compression turned off in the tape drive. Contemporary manufacturers of cartridges for the DLT SDLT backup tape media cartridges bazaar are Fujifilm, IBM, HP, Quantum, Sony, Maxell and Imation. VStape is fictional by Sony. The DLT backup tape uses the WORM Engross Once Discover Copious technology. A au courant naming association took backlash in 2005, calling the performance edge DLT-S and the expenditure borderline DLT-V