Spectra Logic Details Latest in LTO-8 Tape Technology; Plans to Ship in September 2019

Spectra libraries will support LTO-8 Tape (linear tape open) technology, the eighth generation of tape technology that delivers on the promise made by the LTO Consortium to develop LTO tape technology through at least 10 generations. With much higher LTO-8 capacity, the entire line of Spectra tape libraries will allow customers to store more data and better utilize their existing tape library footprint.

What’s New with LTO-8?
LTO-8 capacity doubles that of LTO-7 and provides a 20 percent increase in performance. The extra performance translates into fewer tape drives to do the same amount of work, while the additional capacity equates to fewer tape cartridges used to store the same amount of data.

LTO-8 offers a compressed storage capacity of 30TB (12TB native) using a 2.5:1 ratio, and a compressed transfer rate of 750 MB/sec. (360MB/sec. native). In addition, the new LTO-8 drives are backward compatible with LTO-7 tape media, allowing users to read/write any LTO-7 media. LTO-8 tape, like LTO-7, supports LTFS, WORM (Write Once Read Many), and AES 256-bit hardware encryption.

LTO-8 Tape Head
To achieve even greater capacities and performance, the LTO Consortium advanced LTO-8 technology with the use of new TMR (Tunneling Magnetoresistive) drive heads that replace the Giant Magnetoresistive (GMR) drive heads used in previous LTO generations. This technological progress enables higher densities, lower susceptibility to noise and media discrepancies, cooler operational temperatures and a four times improvement in signal sensitivity, translating into a more reliable drive for any size organization. In addition, LTO-8 uses Barium Ferrite instead of metal particle to achieve significant gains in capacity. Barium Ferrite (BaFe) is a type of magnetic particle which can be greatly reduced in size to improve recording density without magnetic signal loss.

Unmatched Storage Density
With LTO-8 capacity, Spectra tape libraries offer unsurpassed storage density and minimal footprint through a unique and highly efficient design. Instead of using traditional tape slots, Spectra uses TeraPack containers to store tape cartridges. This approach gives Spectra’s enterprise libraries industry-best density, allowing storage of up to nearly three times the information per data center floor tile as the competition.

Reliability
LTO-8 has a reliability of 10-19 bit error rate, which means you can rest easy knowing your data has been reliably captured on the media. In parallel with Spectra’s Data Integrity Verification and Media Lifecycle Management (MLM) included with its tape libraries, LTO-8 tape’s accuracy and reliability ensures the safety of your data well into the future. Drive Lifecycle Management (DLM) helps you monitor drives by integrating tape drive analysis, diagnostics and reporting within the library’s easy-to-manage, color-coded icons that help you quickly identify the health status of a drive.

LTO: The Industry Standard for Tape Technology
LTO tape technology is the only open standards, nonproprietary tape technology. Interchangeability of tape media and drives is guaranteed from all LTO manufacturers to allow freedom of choice for end users. With LTO tape technology you will experience the lowest cost, most energy-efficient tape technology with ongoing advancements driven by high volume and competition.