A tape drive can read and write data on a memory tape. The tape drive may be internal, fitting in a disk drive aperture in a system unit chassis. It may also be housed in its own case and connected to the system via a cable. The tape drive functions much as a cassette tape player/recorder, using a magnetic head to read and manipulate the magnetic data patterns on magnetic tape. The tape is wound on spools so that it can be passed under the |read/write head| by a winding motor. Tapes have the benefit of large data-storage capacity, but tape drives are slow to access specific data locations. They are generally used only to download large blocks of data for transport or archival.
