Althrough the magnetic tape can store large quantity of data, it has one drawback when compared to other storage devices such as hard disk
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Answer:
1) High Initial Investment – Costly Equipment Required
A magnetic tape storage system generally requires purchasing costly, special equipment. An upfront, heavy investment is required when setting up a new system.
2) Slow to Find Data
When examining magnetic tape storage advantages and disadvantages, it is important to remember that magnetic tape is a sequential access device. It has no addressing mechanism. Data access is far slower than random access devices, such as hard disks. To find a specific block of data in magnetic tape, all data blocks before it need to be accessed first.
3) Susceptible to Physical and Environmental Damage
Another disadvantage of magnetic tape as a storage medium is its susceptibility to physical and environmental damage. This may lead to data loss, data alteration, and/or permanent tape damage. In some cases, the entire tape role becomes useless after damage to some area/s of the tape. Possible damaging factors include:
- High temperature
- High humidity
- Proximity to strong magnetic fields
- Mechanical shock and improper handling
- Dust