IBM 3592

The IBM 3592 is a series of tape drives and corresponding magnetic tape data storage media formats developed by IBM. The first drive, having the IBM product number 3592, was introduced under the nickname Jaguar. The next drive was the TS1120, also having the nickname Jaguar. As of June, 2011, the latest and current drive is the TS1140. The 3592 line of tape drives and media is not compatible with the IBM 3590 series of drives, which it superseded. This series can store up to 4 TB of data (uncompressed) on a cartridge and has a native data transfer rate of up to 250 MB/s.

Like the 3590 and 3480 before it, this tape format has half inch tape spooled onto 4-by-5-by-1 inch data cartridges containing a single reel. A take-up reel is embedded inside the tape drive. Because of their speed, reliability, durability and low media cost, the 3592 tape drives are still in high demand. A hallmark of the genre is interchangeability. Tapes recorded with one tape drive are generally readable on another drive, even if the tape drives were built by different manufacturers.

The TS1120, TS1130, and TS1140 drives all include built-in encryption processing, with platform software (for example, z/OS Security Server) managing encryption keys. Prior drives require server-based software to encrypt and decrypt tapes.