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Research dossier · General Reference

StorageTek SL8500

computer storage

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 13, 2026
Entity authorityQ7638524 ↗
Source-derived summary

StorageTek SL8500 is an enterprise-class robotic tape library, originally marketed by Sun Microsystems and later by Oracle Corporation following their acquisition of Sun in 2010.

Each library module starts with a capacity of 1448 tape cartridges, and expands in 1728 cartridge increments to a maximum capacity of 10088. It supports up to 64 tape drives and 4 or 8 independent robots in each library. Each tape drive installed in the SL8500 library has an independent data path. The aggregate data rate for all drives reaches 58 TB/hour per module using T10000D drives, more with compression.

Up to ten such modules can be connected side-by-side and automatically pass tapes between each other, forming a complex capable of storing over 925 PB of data and mounting 640 tape drives.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “StorageTek SL8500” is computer storage. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through StorageTek, SL8500 and computer, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2010, 1448, 1728—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, StorageTek, SL8500 and computer is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “computer storage” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7638524. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2010, 1448 and 1728.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “StorageTek SL8500”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow StorageTek SL8500 primary sources, StorageTek SL8500 archive and StorageTek research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “StorageTek SL8500”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “StorageTek SL8500” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.