LTO Tape Capacity Shipments Achieve Significant Growth Amid Explosive Data Generation
May 21 2024 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
2023 was a strong year for LTO tape technology
with a record 152.9 Exabytes* (EB) of new LTO capacity shipped
The LTO Program Technology Provider Companies (TPCs), Hewlett
Packard Enterprise, International Business Machines Corporation and
Quantum Corporation, today released their annual tape media
shipment report, detailing year-over-year shipments through the
fourth quarter of 2023. The report reveals a record 152.9 Exabytes*
(EB) of total tape capacity (compressed) shipped in 2023, with a
growth of 3.14% over 2022, driven in part by rapid data generation
and the increased infrastructure requirements of hyperscalers and
enterprises.
“LTO tape technology continues to realize annual gains. LTO tape
utilization is poised to expand even further as customers
increasingly require higher storage capacity and recognize the
benefits of the technology,” said G. Kyle Fitze, Vice
President, OEM & Partner Enabled Products, HPE Storage. “We
remain dedicated to improving and innovating further around LTO
tape technology for the fast-evolving needs of organizations now
and in the years to come.”
These benefits include low total-cost of ownership – which
organizations can determine using the LTO Ultrium TCO Calculator –
in addition to strong security and enhanced sustainability.
With shipped capacity remaining high in 2023, LTO tape
technology proves to be a choice solution for mitigating common
challenges created by the proliferation of unstructured data due to
recent advancements in technologies such as artificial intelligence
(AI). As AI and related technologies cause increases in storage
requirements and costs, LTO tape technology makes the management of
vast amounts of data more cost-effective and sustainable while
delivering comprehensive protection against data breaches, which
continue to grow in number and sophistication.
“The latest annual tape capacity shipment media report signifies
the continued importance of LTO tape technology in the digital
storage hierarchy not only today, but also far into the future as
storage needs evolve in complexity and cost,” said Tom Coughlin,
Storage Analyst and President, Coughlin Associates. “LTO tape will
endure as a critical component of storage architectures across the
enterprise, especially as tape technology itself continues to
improve to handle even larger volumes of data and more intensive
workloads.”
LTO generation 9 is the latest format specification for LTO
Ultrium tape drives and media, providing significantly more
capacity and higher performance than the previous generation. In
addition to full backward read and write compatibility with LTO-8
cartridges, LTO generation 9 specifications include multi–layer
security support with hardware–based encryption, immutable WORM
(Write–Once, Read–Many) functionality, and fast data access with
the Linear Tape File System (LTFS). LTO generation 9 technology
offers a 45TB* compressed tape cartridge, representing a 50%
capacity boost over LTO generation 8 and a 1400% increase over
LTO-5 technology launched a decade ago, with transfer speeds of up
to 400 MB/s (native), 1,000 MB/s (compressed*). In 2022, the LTO
Program announced an extended LTO tape roadmap that calls for plans
to achieve up to 1.4 Petabytes (PB) of compressed capacity per
cartridge by LTO generation 14.
Access the LTO Program’s annual shipment reports for tape media
via the LTO Program website, www.lto.org.
About Linear Tape-Open (LTO) Format
The LTO Ultrium format is a powerful, scalable, adaptable open
tape format developed and continuously enhanced by technology
providers Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM Corporation and Quantum
Corporation (and their predecessors) to help address the growing
demands of data protection in the midrange to enterprise-class
server environments. This ultra-high capacity generation of tape
storage products is designed to deliver outstanding performance,
capacity and reliability combining the advantages of linear
multi-channel, bi- directional formats with enhancements in servo
technology, data compression, track layout, and error correction.
The LTO Ultrium format is licensed to, and format- compliant
products are made by, multiple manufacturers; their production is
not limited to one sole proprietor.
The LTO Ultrium format has a well-defined roadmap for growth and
scalability. The roadmap represents intentions and goals only and
is subject to change or withdrawal. There is no guarantee that
these goals will be achieved. The roadmap is intended to outline a
general direction of technology and should not be relied upon in
making a purchasing decision. Format compliance verification is
vital to meet the free-interchange objectives that are at the core
of the LTO Program. Ultrium tape mechanism and tape cartridge
interchange specifications are available on a licensed basis.
For additional information on the LTO Program, visit the LTO
Program website at www.lto.org.
*Assumes a 2.5:1 compression achieved with larger compression
history buffer available beginning with LTO generation 6
drives.
Note: Linear Tape-Open, LTO, the LTO logo, Ultrium, and the
Ultrium logo are registered trademarks of Hewlett Packard
Enterprise, International Business Machines Corporation and Quantum
Corporation in the US and other countries.
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For More Information: Mercedez McManus Matter
Communications mercedezm@matternow.com