Company:Irwin Magnetic Systems

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AccuTrak 40 MB tape cartdrige

Irwin Magnetic Systems, Inc., also known as Irwin Magnetics, was a computer storage manufacturer founded in 1979 and based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. At its height, the company employed 600 people in Ann Arbor.[1] The company's primary product lines were magnetic tape data storage systems, most popularly the proprietary AccuTrak format. This format was widely adopted by Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and other OEM manufacturers;[2] it was also incorporated into IBM Personal System/2 (PS/2) personal computers as an option.[3] In 1989, the company was acquired by Cipher Data Products for US$77 million.[4][5] Cipher was in turn acquired by Archive Corporation a year later.[6] Archive maintained Irwin as an independent brand for a while after the acquisition.[7]

Notable products

  • EzTape – backup and restore software
  • AccuTrak Plus – 120-MB and 250-MB tape drives

References

  1. "Fallen Star". Corporate Detroit. March 1, 1992. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121020142249/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-12092003/fallen-star-irwin-magnetics.html. Retrieved October 11, 2009. 
  2. Banapour, Zoren (July 23, 1990). "The Backup Safety Net". InfoWorld (IDG Publications) 12 (30): 51–61. https://books.google.com/books?id=ATwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54. 
  3. Rosch, Winn L. (May 31, 1988). "Hardware Standbys: PS/2 Tape Drives". PC Magazine (Ziff-Davis): 139–160. https://books.google.com/books?id=voPUUGTC56UC&pg=PA153. 
  4. Staff writer (March 2, 1989). "Cipher Data Products Inc.: Purchase of Irwin Magnetic for $77 Million Is Planned". The Wall Street Journal (Dow Jones & Company): 1. https://www.proquest.com/docview/398097967/. 
  5. Khermouch, Gerry (December 16, 1991). "Archive to reorganize Irwin; president, 130 others to exit". Electronic News (Sage Publications) 37 (1891): 11. Archived from the original on June 11, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090611095547/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EKF/is_n1891_v37/ai_11677732. 
  6. Staff writer (March 13, 1990). "Archive Agrees to Buy Cipher Data". The New York Times: D6. https://www.proquest.com/docview/427584827/. 
  7. Lewis, Peter H. (February 4, 1992). "Beyond Diskettes for Data Backup". The New York Times: C5. https://www.proquest.com/docview/428404265/.