Term of the Moment
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Definition: magnetic drum
An early high-speed, direct access storage device that used a magnetic-coated cylinder with tracks around its circumference. Each track had its own read/write head. Magnetic drums were used in the 1950s and 1960s.
A Magnetic Drum
This magnetic drum added additional storage to the Whirlwind computer in the early 1950s. (Image courtesy of The MITRE Corporation Archives.)