Magnetic tape is a durable storage medium that utilizes magnetism to encode digital or analog information. The technology relies on coating a flexible substrate, typically made of plastic, with a ferromagnetic material. Data is recorded by passing an electrical current through the medium, which causes the magnetic particles on the coating to align in specific patterns corresponding to binary data or signal variations. These magnetic patterns maintain their state until they are read by a separate sensor assembly, which detects the strength and sequence of the magnetic flux. Due to its inherent physical structure, the medium is highly stable and has been utilized extensively in computing for archiving massive amounts of data and transmitting information over long periods.