Overview

Minicartridge technology, invented and patented by 3M, is the world's most popular desktop backup technology. Introduced in early 1995, 3M's proprietary Travan technology set new standards for performance and data storage capacity. Since its introduction, Travan technology has been embraced by users and manufacturers alike as a reliable, low cost-per-megabyte storage solution.

Effective July 1, 1996, 3M's Travan minicartridges will be manufactured and marketed by Imation, the new imaging and information company being spun-off by 3M.

Travan Technology Becomes a New Standard

Millions of minicartridge tape drives and more than 200 million minicartridges are currently in use worldwide. That is four times the number of drives of competing tape technologies combined, including 4mm, 8mm and half-inch cartridges.

Data cartridge technology has typically offered excellent performance and value in both 3.5-inch and high-performance, high-capacity 5.25-inch drive systems. This, along with high reliability and backward compatibility, has made data cartridge tape drive systems the preferred choice of PC users for backup/restore applications for years.

By the end of 1994, however, the number of different minicartridge tape drive systems proliferated and the landscape of tape options had become extremely complicated. Also, in spite of major improvements in capacity and performance, minicartridge technology was not keeping pace with advances in PC hard disk capacity. In 1994, for example, the average 3.5-inch hard disk had a capacity of 300 MB, although many systems utilized 3.5-inch hard disks in the 500 MB - 1 GB range. Today, that average is pushing ever-higher.

The result was that hard disk backup/restore operations -- for many the main function of miinicartridges -- were no longer possible in a single, unattended session.

Accordingly, minicartridge technology was not being considered for new applications and its attach rate to PCs was not increasing. In short, existing minicartridge technology was not meeting the needs of all potential market segments, and a clear migration path was greatly needed to assist users with product selection.

First announced in late 1994, Travan technology has become a widely supported and successful industry standard. By offering a clear migration path, support from leading storage companies and a host of available products, the Travan platform has provided a valuable, affordable storage solution for users worldwide.

What is Travan Technology?

Travan technology is based on a unique drive/cartridge interface developed by 3M. The Travan platform leverages proven, existing technology in a new way. Beyond its first generation, Travan technology has served and will continue to serve as a platform for further growth in capacity and performance. The technology offers:

• An optimized tape area in a 3.5-inch form factor
• An increase in tape width from .25 inches to .315 inches
• Drives capable of reading Travan media as well as standard quarter-inch and QIC-Wide media

3M, which holds intellectual properties that form the basis of Travan technology, has licensed the technology to 10 leading manufacturers of minicartridge products.

Advantages of Travan Technology

Travan technology offers users a number of major advantages:

• Existing 3.5-inch quarter-inch minicartridges can be used in drives based on the Travan platform
• Provides significant capacity increase with a low cost-per-megabyte
• Provides a clearly defined migration path promoted and supported by leading companies
• Provides impetus to increase attach rates to PCs by offering clear customer value and by expanding the applications for small form-factor tape
• Provides simplified buying decision for tape drive users

Travan Licensees

10 manufacturers have joined 3M in supporting Travan technology by developing new products based on the platform. These companies are:

• Hewlett-Packard's Colorado Memory Systems division
• Seagate (formerly Conner Peripherals)
• Iomega
• Exabyte
• Tandberg Data
• Sony
• Tecmar (formerly Rexon)
• Pertec Memories
• AIWA
• TEAC

Expectations are that other manufacturers will join these leading companies in supporting Travan technology.

Travan Platforms

Four 3M minicartridges based on Travan technology have been announced to date:

3M's TR-1 minicartridge	400 MB uncompressed (800 MB compressed)
3M's TR-2 minicartridge	800 MB uncompressed (1.6 GB compressed)
3M's TR-3 minicartridge	1.6 GB uncompressed (3.2 GB compressed)
3M's TR-4 minicartridge	4 GB uncompressed (8 GB compressed)

TR-1, TR-2 and TR-3 -- all floppy interface formats and parallel port products -- represent the first three steps on the Travan migration path. The TR-4 product features a SCSI-EIDE drive interface, and is the latest Travan generation to be commercialized. A key feature of TR-4 technology is a low-cost servo method that uses pre-recorded precision "bursts" to position the head. This technique, which enables a significant increase in track density and improvements in linear density, results in substantially higher capacity and transfer rate at a low cost to the user.

Travan Technology Developments .

• TR-5 -- The technical standard for TR-5 is currently being defined and the capacity is expected to be 10 GB.
• Enabling software -- This year, PGSoft, Inc. (Pacific Grove, Calif.), introduced "Tape-it" -- an enabling software product for tape that provides users with easy access to a wide range of new applications -- including near-line storage, large file transport, and direct recording and playback of computer data, audio, video and multimedia files.
• Automation -- Travan technology will reach into the high-end workstation and low-end server markets as Automated Tape Cartridge Handling Systems (ATCHS), using Travan minicartridge drives, are introduced in 1996. This will result in the first practical availability of autoloaders and tape libraries for the 3.5-inch form factor.

Copyright 1996 Imation. All rights reserved.