The F6473A, which began shipping in March 1991, was Fujitsu’s high-performance magnetic tape unit that used IBM 3480-format tape media. Although Fujitsu already had the F6470 magnetic tape unit (which started shipping in September 1987) that worked with IBM 3480-format tape media, the F6473A was designed to make more efficient use of its installation space. It housed four tape drives in one enclosure that took up 30 percent less space than the F6470, which housed only two tape drives.
- The F6473A had the following features:
- （1）The 18-track magnetic head, which used thin-film technology, could record 37,871 bytes per inch, enabling per-cartridge storage capacities of up to 200 MB
- （2）The 18-track magnetic head, which used thin-film technology, could record 37,871 bytes per inch, enabling per-cartridge storage capacities of up to 200 MB
- （3）The F6473A took up dramatically less space — approximately one-fifth of the previous F613 open-reel tape unit
- （4）About 400 MB could be recorded on one cartridge with the magnetic tape controller’s data compression function, which compressed data received from the channel before writing it on tape and which uncompressed data read from the tape before sending the original data to the channel
| F6473A magnetic tape unit |
F6470 magnetic tape unit (for reference) |
F613A magnetic tape unit (for reference) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial shipping date | March 1991 | March 1991 | December 1977 |
| Tape media | Single-reel tape cartridges (width: 1/2 inch, length: 540 feet) |
Single-reel tape cartridges (width: 1/2 inch, length: 540 feet) |
Open-reel tapes (width: 1/2 inch, length: 2,400 feet) |
| Cartridge dimensions [mm] | 110 x 128 x 26 (w x d x h) | 110 x 128 x 26 (w x d x h) | - |
| Number of drive decks [decks/unit] | FACOM6473A4:4 FACOM6473A2:2 |
2 | １ |
| Recording density [bytes/inch] | 37,871 | 37,871 | 6,250/1600 |
| Recording tracks | 18 | 18 | 9 |
| Recording format | GCR | GCR | GCR/PE |
| Data transfer speed [MB/s] | 3.0 | FACOM6470A:3.0 FACOM6470B:1.5 |
1.25/0.32 |
| Tape speed [inches/s] | 78.7 | FACOM6470A:78.7 FACOM6470B:39.3 |
200 |
| Storage capacity*1 [MB/volume] | 200 max. (〜400 with data compression) |
200 max. (〜400 with data compression) |
170 / 44 max |
| Access time [ms] | 25 | 25 | 1.0 |
| Rewind time [s] | 40 | 55 | 45 |
| Unload time [s] | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Autoloader | Autoloader with six-cartridge capacity | Autoloader with six-cartridge capacity | None |
