LTO tape drives for every system
An LTO tape drive reads and writes LTO Ultrium cartridges. We supply LTO tape drives from HPE, IBM, Quantum, Dell Technologies, Lenovo, Fsas Technologies, Spectra Logic, and Unitex in every current generation, plus replacement drive sleds for autoloaders and libraries.
Types of LTO tape drive
Internal
5.25″ half-height drives that fit a server or workstation bay, usually SAS-connected.
External desktop
Self-powered drives connected by SAS or Thunderbolt – popular for Mac and media workstations.
Rack-mount & library
1U enclosures holding one or two half-height drives, and drive sleds for autoloaders and tape libraries.
Interfaces
- SAS (6Gb/s or 12Gb/s) – the standard for direct-attached drives; requires a SAS HBA in the host.
- Fibre Channel (8, 16 or 32Gb) – for SAN-attached library drives. Some LTO-10 drives reach their fastest compressed rates only on 32Gb FC.
- Thunderbolt – external drives for macOS and Windows workstations.
- iSCSI / Ethernet – available on some libraries and specialist enclosures.
LTO drive generations and compatibility
| Generation | Native capacity | Compressed | Native speed | Compressed speed | Drive compatibility | Launched |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LTO-10 | 30 TB / 40 TB | 75 TB / 100 TB | 400 MB/s | up to 1,200 MB/s | LTO-10 only (no backward compatibility) | 2025 |
| LTO-9 | 18 TB | 45 TB | 400 MB/s | 1,000 MB/s | Reads & writes LTO-8 | 2021 |
| LTO-8 | 12 TB | 30 TB | 360 MB/s | 900 MB/s | Reads & writes LTO-7 (incl. LTO-7 Type M) | 2017 |
| LTO-7 | 6 TB | 15 TB | 300 MB/s | 750 MB/s | R/W LTO-6, reads LTO-5 | 2015 |
| LTO-6 | 2.5 TB | 6.25 TB | 160 MB/s | 400 MB/s | R/W LTO-5, reads LTO-4 | 2012 |
Compressed figures assume 2.5:1 for LTO-6 onwards and 2:1 for LTO-1 to LTO-5. LTO-10 compressed speed up to 1,200 MB/s on 32Gb Fibre Channel drives.
How to choose an LTO tape drive
- Data volume per backup – choose a generation whose cartridge holds a full backup where possible.
- Backup window – LTO-9 and LTO-10 write ≈1.44 TB/hour native per drive.
- Existing tapes – need to read older cartridges? LTO-9 reads LTO-8; LTO-10 reads LTO-10 only.
- Host connection – SAS HBA, Fibre Channel SAN or Thunderbolt.
- Software support – confirm your backup or archive software supports the drive.
Tip: LTO drives perform best when data arrives close to their native speed. Slow data streams make the tape stop and restart (“shoe-shining”). Staging backups to disk first, or using a fast network, keeps the drive streaming.
LTO tape storage hardware
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