<s>
VXA	B-Device
is	O
a	O
tape	O
backup	O
format	O
originally	O
created	O
by	O
Ecrix	O
and	O
now	O
owned	O
by	O
Tandberg	O
Data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
merger	O
between	O
Ecrix	O
and	O
Exabyte	O
on	O
17	O
November	O
2001	O
,	O
VXA	B-Device
was	O
produced	O
by	O
Exabyte	O
Corporation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
VXA	B-Device
is	O
based	O
on	O
helical	O
scan	O
technology	O
,	O
data	O
is	O
written	O
across	O
the	O
tape	O
from	O
side	O
to	O
side	O
in	O
helical	O
strips	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
novel	O
part	O
of	O
VXA	B-Device
packet	O
technology	O
is	O
that	O
each	O
stripe	O
starts	O
with	O
a	O
unique	O
packet	O
ID	O
and	O
ends	O
with	O
an	O
ECC	O
packet	O
checksum	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
aspect	O
of	O
VXA	B-Device
is	O
that	O
there	O
are	O
2	O
read	O
heads	O
for	O
each	O
stripe	O
,	O
slightly	O
offset	O
in	O
relation	O
to	O
each	O
other	O
to	O
allow	O
for	O
more	O
flexibility	O
in	O
reading	O
tapes	O
written	O
by	O
other	O
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VXA	B-Device
format	O
competes	O
mainly	O
against	O
the	O
DDS	B-Architecture
,	O
and	O
DLT-IV	B-Device
formats	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Exabyte	O
released	O
two	O
different	O
product	O
lines	O
based	O
on	O
VXA-3	O
technology	O
,	O
VXA-320	O
in	O
2005	O
and	O
VXA-172	O
in	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VXA-172	O
drives	O
are	O
limited	O
to	O
86	O
GB	O
per	O
tape	O
cartridge	O
,	O
but	O
can	O
be	O
unlocked	O
(	O
for	O
a	O
fee	O
)	O
to	O
remove	O
the	O
limit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VXA-3	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
helical	O
scan	O
system	O
in	O
production	O
to	O
feature	O
thin	O
film	O
MR	O
heads	O
.	O
</s>
