LTO: Did You Know?

More than a decade ago, some of the top names in storage technology came together to create the LTO Program.  With an open format, LTO technology simplified the complex array of proprietary tape storage options, providing users multiple sources of product and media.

In just a short amount of time LTO technology quickly became the storage medium of choice for a broad range of applications. Storage managers loved the cost-effective and reliable solution. As the technology continued innovating, the benefits of LTO tape soon were realized inside and outside of the storage center.

Things changed dramatically when we then introduced partitioning with LTO generation 5, allowing for Linear Tape File System (LTFS). LTFS opened the door for a new wave of applications where ease of use and convenience were critical. Movie producers began using it for digital editing and archiving. Oil and exploration companies began using it to archive valuable data. It completely changed the game in the storage industry.

Proponents of competing technologies like to claim that their own technologies are going to supplant tape in the near future.  The truth is that they’ve been saying things like this for more than a decade now and tape continues to go strongly.  Here are a few things to consider:

• One LTO generation 6 cartridge can hold more than 300 Blu-ray quality high definition movies.
• An LTO generation 6 tape drive can transfer one of these movies to an LTO tape in less than a minute, rivaling the speed of disk.
• The cost of storing one Gigabyte on an LTO generation 6 tape is just 1.3 cents. Some competing storage solutions can be 26 times more expensive.
• LTO tape is used to safely store vital data and digital movie footage in some of the most rugged locations throughout the world.
• LTO tape has one of the longest MTBF qualities of available storage solutions.
• Footage from some of the most famous moments in history is stored on LTO tape.
• Nearly 250 million LTO tapes have been shipped since the format’s inception. This totals over 100,000 PB of data protected and retained using LTO Technology.

It’s interesting to put all of these qualities in context. When we started the LTO Program, we were confident that it would become a solid competitor in the market.  In retrospect, we’re more than pleased with its success.  In fact, we’re even more excited about the future.  Stay tuned for more great things to come...