TheIBM 729 Magnetic Tape Unit was IBM's iconictape mass storage system from the late 1950s through the mid-1960s. Part of theIBM 7-track family of tape units, it was used onlate 700, most 7000 and many1400 series computers. Like its predecessor, theIBM 727 and many successors, the 729 used1⁄2 inch (13 mm)magnetic tape up to 2,400 feet (730 m) long wound on reels up to10+1⁄2 inches (270 mm) diameter. To allow rapid tape acceleration (and thus reduced seek/access times), longvacuum columns were placed between the tape reels and theread/write heads to absorb sudden increases in tape tension which would otherwise break the tape.Write protection was provided by a removable plastic ring in the back of the tape reel.

The tape hadseven parallel tracks, six for data and one to maintainparity. Tapes with character data (BCD) were recorded in even parity. Binary tapes used odd parity (709 manual, p. 20). Aluminum strips were glued several feet from the ends of the tape to serve as physical beginning and end of tape markers.Write protection was provided by a removable plastic ring in the back of the tape reel. A 3/4 inch gap between records allowed the mechanism enough time to stop the tape. Initial tape speed was 75 inches per second (2.95 m/s) and recording density was 200 characters per inch, giving a payload transfer speed of 90 kbit/s (105 kbit/s including parity bits). Later 729 models supported 556 and 800 characters/inch and 112.5 in/s (payload transfer rates up to 540 kbit/s; raw transfer rates up to 630 kbit/s). At 200 characters per inch, a single 2400-foot tape could store the equivalent of some 50,000punched cards (about 4,000,000 six-bit bytes, a data quantity equivalent to three million octets).

The 729 series was superseded by9-track tape drives introduced with theIBM System/360.

The IBM 729 I was introduced for theIBM 709 andIBM 705 III computers, looked identical to theIBM 727, and usedvacuum tubes. The main improvement was the use of a dual gap head permitting write verify.

The IBM 729 II was introduced for theIBM 7000 series computers, introducing a new cabinet style andtransistorized circuitry. Supported dual density (200, 556).

High speed (112.5 in/s) single density (556).

High speed (112.5 in/s) dual density (200, 556).

High density (800).

High speed (112.6 in/s) high density (800). Introduced September 1961.^[1]

• IBM 7330, a less expensive 7-track tape drive

• IBM 709 Data Processing System, Form A22-6501-0

• Bitsavers.org Magnetic Tape Equipment manuals (PDF files)
• Debugging the 1959 IBM 729 Vacuum Column Tape Drive at the Computer History Museum, YouTube 20 April 2016

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  An IBM 729 V at Deutsches Museum, Munich
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  IBM 729 tape drives at Computer History Museum (CHM)
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  Side view of 729 tape drive with cover removed at CHM
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  Cable used to connect IBM 729 tape drives to each other and to anIBM 1401 computer at CHM
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  Full-size, half-inch tape reel withwrite enable rings