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A tape drive is a computer peripheral device that reads and writes data onto magnetic tape for storage. They are primarily used for backup and long-term archiving due to their high capacity, low cost, and durability. Unlike random-access storage like hard drives, tape drives are sequential-access, meaning they must wind through the tape to find a specific piece of data, which makes them slower for retrieval but ideal for archiving where speed is not critical.

How it works

Sequential access: Data is written and read in a continuous stream. To access data in the middle of the tape, the drive must fast-forward or rewind through all the preceding data.

Read/write head: The drive uses a read/write head to magnetize the tape's surface to encode data or to detect the magnetic patterns to read data.

Magnetic coating: The tape itself is a flexible material coated with a magnetic substance, such as iron oxide particles, which can be polarized to represent digital information.