Magstar 3590E drives are backwards-read compatible with cartridges written on existing 3590 drives and can be upgraded onsite. When used with the new drive, the more than seven million Magstar cartridges already owned by customers can potentially be doubled in capacity and doubled in value.

The drives will begin shipping in May. IBM claims 7 million 3590 tapes are in use world-wide on around 45,000 units. Doubling their capacity has just increased world-wide data storage capacity by around 70 Petabyes!