LTO Tape FAQ

LTO (Linear Tape-Open) Ultrium tapes are half-inch magnetic tape cartridges built to an open standard governed by the LTO Program (HPE, IBM and Quantum). Any LTO-certified cartridge works in any LTO drive of a compatible generation, whichever brand made it. Each new generation adds capacity and speed — the latest, LTO-10, stores 30 TB native (40 TB on the new LTO-10 40 TB cartridge).

Buy the generation that matches your drive. For a new installation, LTO-9 is the best-value choice where you also need to read existing LTO-8 tapes; choose LTO-10 for the highest capacity per cartridge and lowest cost per terabyte at scale, bearing in mind that LTO-10 drives cannot read older tapes.

Yes. HPE, IBM, Quantum, Fujifilm and Sony LTO cartridges of the same generation are fully interchangeable because they are made to the same LTO specification. Most organisations standardise on one brand per library purely for easier stock control and barcode labelling.

LTO drives compress data in hardware as it is written. Quoted compressed figures assume 2.5:1 (LTO-6 onwards). Text, databases and logs often compress well; video, images and already-encrypted data barely compress, so size those jobs on native capacity.

LTO media is rated for up to 30 years of archive life when stored at 16–25 °C and 20–50% relative humidity. In practice the limiting factor is having a drive that can read the cartridge, so plan to migrate data every few generations.

Yes. We can supply LTO cartridges with pre-printed barcode labels in your chosen sequence — ideal for tape libraries and autoloaders. Pre-labelled media is available on orders of 20 cartridges or more.

Yes. We offer next-working-day delivery to UK mainland addresses on in-stock media and ship worldwide. Ask for a quote with your delivery postcode or country and we will confirm lead time.

A standard LTO-10 cartridge stores 30 TB native and up to 75 TB compressed (2.5:1). The newer LTO-10 40 TB cartridge stores 40 TB native and up to 100 TB compressed, using a thinner Aramid base film to fit more tape in the same shell.

No. LTO-10 drives read and write LTO-10 cartridges only. If you need to restore from LTO-9 or LTO-8 tapes you will need to keep an LTO-9 drive, or run a mixed library with separate LTO-9 and LTO-10 partitions.

The 40 TB cartridge is designed for the same LTO-10 drives as the 30 TB cartridge. Some drives may need a firmware update to recognise the new media — we will confirm compatibility for your specific drive or library when you request a quote.

LTO-10 drives transfer up to 400 MB/s native — roughly 1.44 TB per hour per drive — and up to 1,200 MB/s with compressible data on 32Gb Fibre Channel drives. SAS drives typically top out a little lower.

Yes. LTO-10 supports hardware AES-256 encryption, WORM (write once, read many) cartridges and, crucially, true air-gap protection: a cartridge removed from the drive is offline and cannot be reached by malware over the network.

LTO-9 stores 18 TB native and up to 45 TB compressed (2.5:1) — 50% more than LTO-8.

Yes. LTO-9 drives read and write LTO-8 cartridges. They cannot read LTO-7 or earlier, and LTO-7 Type M (M8) cartridges are not supported in LTO-9 drives.

LTO-9 introduced media optimisation: the first time a new cartridge is loaded the drive characterises the tape to maximise reliability. This one-off process averages around 40 minutes per cartridge and can occasionally take up to two hours, so libraries should be configured to pre-initialise new media before backups are scheduled.

Choose LTO-9 if you have an existing LTO-8 tape estate or want the lowest entry cost for drives. Choose LTO-10 for maximum capacity per slot, lower cost per terabyte and longer runway — especially for new archives and large libraries where slot count is expensive.

An LTO tape library is an automated system containing multiple LTO tape drives, dozens to thousands of cartridge slots, a barcode reader and a robot that moves tapes between slots and drives under the control of your backup or archive software.

Multiply the licensed slots by the native capacity of your media. For example, 80 slots of LTO-10 (30 TB) provides 2.4 PB native, or 3.2 PB using 40 TB LTO-10 cartridges. Enterprise libraries scale to many petabytes.

Yes. Most modern libraries use capacity-on-demand: you buy the slots you need now and activate more with a licence key, add drives as throughput needs grow, or add expansion modules.

Yes. Libraries can be partitioned into logical libraries, so you can run an LTO-10 partition for new data alongside an LTO-9 partition for restoring older LTO-8 / LTO-9 tapes.

Number of drives, LTO generation, host interface (SAS, Fibre Channel or iSCSI), data volume and retention, and your backup or archive software. If you are unsure, call us and we will size it with you.

An LTO tape autoloader is a compact 1U or 2U rack-mount unit with one (sometimes two) LTO drives, a magazine of roughly 8 to 24 cartridge slots, a barcode reader and a robotic loader. It rotates tapes automatically under backup software control so you don't have to change tapes by hand.

An autoloader suits small and mid-sized businesses, branch offices and single backup servers. If you need more than two drives, more than about 24 slots, partitioning or several backup servers sharing the device, step up to a modular tape library.

An 8-slot LTO-9 autoloader holds 144 TB native (360 TB compressed); a 24-slot unit holds 432 TB native. With LTO-10 media, 8 slots hold 240 TB native and 24 slots 720 TB.

Autoloaders are typically available with SAS (direct-attached to a server HBA) or Fibre Channel (SAN-attached) drives; some models also offer iSCSI.

For long-term archive storage keep cartridges at 16–25 °C and 20–50% relative humidity, upright in their cases, away from magnetic fields, direct sunlight and dust. Allow 24 hours to acclimatise before use after moving tapes between environments.

For large volumes of data that are kept for months or years, yes. LTO tape has the lowest cost per terabyte of any mainstream storage medium, uses no power when idle in a slot or on a shelf, and has no cloud egress or retrieval fees.

Tape cartridges that have been ejected from the drive — or are sitting in library slots — are offline. Malware cannot encrypt or delete what it cannot reach over the network. Combined with WORM media and AES-256 encryption, tape gives you an immutable, air-gapped copy for the 3-2-1-1 backup rule.

The Linear Tape File System (LTFS) lets an LTO-5 or later cartridge mount like a disk, with drag-and-drop file access and no proprietary backup software — ideal for media, research and data interchange.

WORM (write once, read many) cartridges let you append new data but never overwrite or erase existing data. The WORM status is enforced by the drive and the cartridge memory, so data is protected from accidental deletion, tampering and ransomware.

Organisations with regulatory or legal retention requirements — finance, legal, healthcare, policing and evidence, broadcast compliance — and anyone wanting an immutable backup copy.

No. Any LTO-3 or later drive supports WORM cartridges of a compatible generation. Your backup software must support WORM media.

Only when the drive requests it. Over-cleaning wears the heads. In libraries and autoloaders, enable automatic cleaning and keep a universal cleaning cartridge in a reserved slot.

Yes. The LTO Ultrium universal cleaning cartridge works in all generations of LTO drive from any manufacturer. Each cartridge typically gives around 50 cleans and the drive will report when it has expired.