The F6457, which began shipping in July 1995, was Fujitsu’s mid-range tape library that used IBM 3480/3490-format tape media. Fujitsu had already released the F6455 tape library (which started shipping in April 1989) and the F6456 tape library (which started shipping in September 1992) that worked with IBM 3480-format tape media. The F6457, however, was developed with the aim of dramatically boosting storage capacity to meet demand for automated tape operation in very-large-scale systems.
- The F6457 had the following features:
- （1）The library accommodated up to 48,508 cartridges for a maximum storage capacity of 38.8 terabytes (uncompressed)
- （2）The F6457’s tape drives used 18-track IBM 3480-format cartridges and 36-track IBM 3490-format ones that held up to 800 MB of data
- （3）The library housed up to 64 36-track-cartridge tape drives
- （4）Came with a cartridge loading and unloading mechanism that could load or unload 12 cartridges sequentially
- （5）Had a 504-cartridge stacker with 18-cartridge magazines
| F6457 tape library | (for reference) F6455 tape library |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Initial shipping date | July 1995 | April 1989 | |
| Max. storage capacity | 1.8TB - 38.8TB | 135 - 1,056GB（*1） | |
| Max. number of tape cartridges | 2,330 to 48,508 | 658 to 5,152 | |
| Cartridge transport time | 350 mounts/hour | 10 s on average | |
| Tape loading / unloading times (times for double-length tape) |
15s（18s）/ 15s（17s） |
11 s / 11 s on average | |
| Data transfer speed [MB/s] | 3.0 | 3.0 | |
| Onboard components | Base device | FACOM6476 magnetic tape unit |
FACOM6470 magnetic tape unit |
| Tape drives | 8 to 64 | 4, 8, 12, or 16 | |
| Controllers | 2 to 32 | 2 or 4 | |
| Selectors | 1/2 | 2 | |
| Configuration types | 267 | 20 | |
| Number of channels | Up to 192 (up to six channels per controller) |
Up to 24 (up to six channels per controller) |
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| Other notes |
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*1: Maximum values depend on the library’s configuration.
