The F6458, which began shipping in July 1998, 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 F6457 tape library (which started shipping in July 1995) that worked with IBM 3480-format tape media. The F6458, as the F6455’s successor, was developed to make use of compact tape drives to store cartridges more efficiently and, thus, address the demand for higher installation efficiencies.
- The F6458 had the following features:
- （1） The library accommodated up to 6,059 cartridges for a maximum storage capacity of 4.8 terabytes (of uncompressed data)
- （2） The F6458’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 16 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 120-cartridge loading and unloading stacker with ten 12-cartridge magazines
| F6458 tape library | F6455 tape library (for reference) |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Initial shipping date | July 1998 | April 1989 | |
| Max. storage capacity (with uncompressed data) |
430GB - 4.8TB | 135 - 1,056GB（*1） | |
| Max. number of tape cartridges | 537 to 6,059 | 658 to 5,152 | |
| Cartridge transport time | 16s on average | 10s on average | |
| Tape loading / unloading times (times for double-length tape) |
13s（17s）／− | 11 s / 11 s on average | |
| Data transfer speed [MB/s] | 3.0 | 3.0 | |
| Onboard components | Base device | FACOM6472 magnetic tape unit |
FACOM6470 magnetic tape unit |
| Tape drives | 2 - 16 | 4, 8, 12, or 16 | |
| Controllers | 1 - 16 | 2 or 4 | |
| Selectors | 1/2 | 2 | |
| Configuration types | 62 | 20 | |
| Number of channels | Up to 16 (one channel 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.
