Archive Corporation was a computer tape drive manufacturer, based in Costa Mesa, California, that was acquired by Conner Peripherals in 1993.

Archive Corporation
IndustryComputer
Founded1980; 44 years ago (1980) in Costa Mesa, California
Defunct1993; 31 years ago (1993)
FateAcquired by Conner Peripherals
ProductsTape drives
Number of employees
3,367 (1990)

History

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The company was founded in 1980 and based out of Costa Mesa, California.[1] The company employed 3,367 in 1990 and reached revenues of US$293 million in that year, up from $79 million in 1986.[2]

Of particular note are the Archive DDS tape drives produced for Silicon Graphics that could also read and write Digital Audio Tapes: the Archive Python 4320 and the Archive Peregrine 4326 (rebranded under Conner or Seagate).[3]

Prior to this, Archive was a leading vendor of the very popular quarter-inch cartridge (QIC) format which was a popular distribution format for Unix workstations and servers. For example, software for the Sun-3 (running the Motorola 68K family) and the Sun-4 (based on SPARC processors) was most commonly distributed on QIC media before CD-ROMs became more cost-effective. Archive was better known for their QIC drives.[4]

Conner Peripherals acquired Archive in 1993.[5]

Acquisitions

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In 1989, Archive acquired Maynard Electronics.[6] The MaynStream brand of tape drives and software was maintained.[7]

In March 1990, Archive acquired Cipher Data Products for $120 million.[8] This included Cipher's subsidiary Irwin Magnetic Systems.[9]

References

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  1. ^ Petska-Juliussen, Karen; Egil Juliussen (1990). The Computer Industry Almanac. Brady. p. 2.109. ISBN 9780131541221 – via the Internet Archive.
  2. ^ Smith, Carter (1992). America's Fastest Growing Employers: The Complete Guide to Finding Jobs with Over 700 of America's Hottest Companies. B. Adams, Inc. p. 35. ISBN 9781558501461 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Digital Audio Tape (DAT) FAQ". Computall Services. n.d. Archived from the original on December 8, 2006.
  4. ^ Staff writer (November 11, 1987). "Archive Corporation". Los Angeles Times: 4. Archived from the original on November 2, 2022.
  5. ^ Staff writer (November 18, 1992). "Conner Peripherals and Archive Approve Merger". The New York Times: D4. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015.
  6. ^ Staff writer (March 29, 1989). "Archive Completes Purchase". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company: 1 – via ProQuest.
  7. ^ Burnett, Richard (October 5, 1992). "Maynard at Forefront of Backup: Sales skyrocket for manufacturer of PC systems". Orlando Sentinel: 19 – via ProQuest.
  8. ^ Staff writer (April 30, 1990). "Archive Completes Acquisition". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company: 1 – via ProQuest.
  9. ^ Khermouch, Gerry (June 22, 1992). "Iomega sets challenge to Irwin in removable QIC tape drives". Electronic News. 38 (1917). Sage Publications: 13. Archived from the original on May 21, 2005.
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