The next generation of data storage has landed. Qualstar is now shipping LTO-10 Full Height FC & SAS drives for use with Q40 and Q80 libraries. With massive capacity increases, no backward read compatibility, and support for RAO, LTO-10 is built for organisations with serious data challenges like backup, active archiving, digital surveillance, and high-density file storage.
Now Shipping: LTO-10 Full Height Drives
Available Now
Drive Type: Full Height (FH)
Interfaces: FC (32Gb) & SAS (12Gb)
Compatible with: Qualstar Q40 and Q80 Libraries
Coming Q2 2026
LTO-10 Half Height (HH) drives
Compatible with: Qualstar Q8 and Q24 Libraries
Fortuna's Insight: "Customers running Q8/Q24 systems should begin planning format migration strategies now. For those on Q40/Q80, you're first in line to leverage the power of LTO-10."
LTO-10 Capacity and Performance
Native Capacity: 30TB
Compressed Capacity: Up to 75TB (2.5:1)
Native Transfer Speed: Up to 400MB/s
Interface Speeds: Up to 1000MB/s with 32Gb FC
LTO-9 Comparison
Native: 18TB
Compressed: 45TB
Max Speed: 400MB/s
RAO (Recommended Access Order)
LTO-10 includes RAO (Recommended Access Order) support — optimising restore speeds by letting software define the most efficient tape read sequence.
Cuts access time during restores by up to 86%
Ideal for environments with complex retrieval patterns
Reduces seek time, wear and improves efficiency
Compatibility & Format Notes
Unlike previous generations, LTO-10 offers no backward read or write compatibility.
LTO-10 drives support LTO-10 media only
No compatibility with LTO-9, LTO-8 or earlier
Impact: Organisations still using LTO-9 or LTO-8 will need to keep legacy drives in place or begin archive migration planning.
Security, Compliance & WORM
LTO-10 continues to support:
WORM (Write Once, Read Many) for compliance
AES-256 bit encryption for secure data handling
Post-Quantum Cryptography certificates for futureproofing key security
Air-gapped architecture, protecting against ransomware threats
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Availability alerts
Drive release updates
Access to the LTO-10 Compatibility & Pricing Guide
