Interviewed by Tom Gardner on 2017-10-12 in Superior, CO
© Computer History Museum
Peter Groel is a German-born engineer whose career spans four decades in the tape storage industry. After graduating from engineering school in Mannheim, Germany, Groel began his career at Siemens in 1974, working on magnetic tape drives. His exposure to StorageTek during a year-long assignment as a Siemens representative in Colorado transformed his approach to engineering. This experience led him to immigrate to the United States in 1981, where he worked at NBI before joining Aspen Peripherals.
At Aspen, Groel developed compatible tape drives for the IBM 3480 format, making significant contributions to the industry through innovative and cost-effective designs. After StorageTek acquired Aspen in 1989, Groel co-founded Mountain Engineering, focusing on contract engineering for tape drive development. His company developed compatible tape drives for clients including Cipher Data, Overland Data, and Victor Data Systems, consistently delivering products at competitive price points.
Throughout his career, Groel created increasingly integrated designs, pioneering the combination of tape drive and controller in a single unit. His technical expertise enabled the development of multiple generations of compatible tape drives, including advancements in the 3490 and LTO formats.
In later years, Groel’s company transitioned to developing specialized products like tape erasers and the VeriTape diagnostic system. His collection of performance data from over a million LTO tapes provides unique insights into media reliability. As one of the last independent tape drive developers, Groel’s career encompasses the evolution of tape storage from its mainframe origins to its current role in large-scale data archiving.
- Note: Transcripts represent what was said in the interview. However, to enhance meaning or add clarification, interviewees have the opportunity to modify this text afterward. This may result in discrepancies between the transcript and the video. Please refer to the transcript for further information – http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102740241
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Collection number: 102740242
Acquisition number: X8366.2018
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