Maxim is implemented as a command line utility which can be used to Examine Metadata and Restore from RODE files. RODE (Record Oriented Data Encapsulation) is a Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) Format Standard that is used for the encapsulation of Record Oriented Tape Data to produce media neutral datasets that can reside on disk or tape and can be transported across networks whilst maintaining the inherent record orientation.

Tape drives are accessed via standard SCSI adaptors (including adaptec/LSI/Qlogic), and with no practical block size limitation Maxim can drive high capacity tape drives at close to the maximum speed.