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
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
IBM 7-track
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IBM's first magnetic-tape data storage devices, introduced in 1952, use what is now generally known as 7-track tape. The magnetic tape is 1⁄2 inch wide, and there are six data tracks plus one parity t
IBM 729
…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 1400 series computers. Like its predecessor, the IBM 727 and many successors, the 729…
A write-protection ring had to be inserted in the back of a reel to allow its tape to be written on.