9-track tape
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9-track tape is a format for magnetic-tape data storage, introduced with the IBM System/360 in 1964. The 1⁄2 inch wide magnetic tape media and reels have the same size as the earlier IBM 7-track forma
IBM 2401 System/360 tape drives that introduced the 9-track format
Full-size reel of 9-track tape
9-track tape drive used with DEC minicomputers
Inside a 9-track tape drive. The vacuum columns are the two gray rectangles on the left.
IBM 729
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The IBM 729 Magnetic Tape Unit was IBM's tape mass storage system from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s. Part of the IBM 7-track family of tape units, it was used on late 700, most 7000 and many 1
9-track tape
…the System/360 and were the first to use 9-track tape. The dimensions of the tape and reels are identical to those used with 7-track units, such as the IBM 729. But older 7-track tapes can be read and written only on special 2400 drives equipped with 7-track read and write heads and the 7-track compatibility…
A bank of IBM 729 tape drives
Reel of tape showing beginning-of-tape reflective marker
An IBM 729 tape drive being debugged as part of the Computer History Museum's IBM 1401 restoration project. A reel of magnetic tape is being loaded onto the drive. The operator's finger is holding the tape in place on the take-up reel as he takes a few turns to secure the tape leader. An IBM 1403 line printer is in the foreground.
PFC Patricia Barbeau operates an IBM 729 at Camp Smith, Hawaii, in 1969