Abstract: The specification discloses a system and method for storing digital information on a magnetic tape wherein redundant information is generated and also stored so that subsequently unreadable portions of the tape can be regenerated based on the readable portions. The tape is formatted to include a plurality of sequentially arranged blocks, each including a plurality of generally identical data sectors and error-correction sectors. The placement of the data sectors and the associated error-correction sectors within a common block facilitates, and increases the speed of, tape writes and reads. Preferably, a Reed-Solomon code is utilized to generate the redundant information in the error-correction sectors as a preferred balance between recoverability, tape overhead, and speed of encoding.