Maxell LTO-5 Cartridges Utilize Dual Partitioning

Maxell Corporation of America announces its LTO Ultrium 5 technology provides companies and personnel responsible for archival footage and unstructured data, including web-based rich video or image content, with a reliable low-power archiving solution.

Boasting a linear tape file system that mimics an HDD (hard disc drive), Maxell LTO-5 tapes utilize dual partitioning to provide a low cost of ownership, high storage capacity solution to post-production houses, television networks, movie studios, and data centers.

Acting as the "tape that thinks it’s a hard drive," LTO-5 tapes can be easily accessed, as they utilize the same file structure/direct trees as HDDs. LTO-5 technology stands above its predecessors, thanks to its linear tape file system. Utilizing dual partitioning, the linear tape file system dedicates one partition to the index, or directory. The index "tells" the drive exactly where a file is located, eliminating the slow, cumbersome task of searching for the correct file. The second partition stores the tape content to be accessed.

The advances of Maxell’s LTO-5 technology address marketplace needs for a low cost of ownership product that addresses rich media content for entertainment and media, medical, and video surveillance. The linear tape file system’s two media partitions can be independently accessed to provide enhanced data access and management. As one partition contains the content while the other stores its index, the tape can be self-describing. LTO-5 offers the ability to manage files directly on the tape.

Boasting a large storage capacity – 1.5TB native, 3TB compressed – Maxell’s LTO-5 tapes feature twice the capacity of LTO-4, while retaining backward read/write compatibility with LTO-4, and backward read compatibility with LTO-3. They also provide faster transfer rates, reaching 140 MB/sec native, 280 MB/sec compressed. For network news and post-production applications, Maxell LTO Ultrium 5 cartridges feature encryption capabilities designed to enable hardware-based writing of encrypted data to the LTO Ultrium data cartridge. Therefore, it is a safe, secure cost-efficient archival media solution for a variety of professional broadcast and video applications.

As increasing investment requirements for data storage parallel the growth of file sizes, businesses are challenged to find critically effective storage solutions. Power usage is a growing global concern for managers of broadcast stations, post production facilities, and data centers. When an LTO-5 drive is idle, with no tape mounted and handling no commands, it can use five watts. A power saving mode is automatically initialized by the drive and requires no user interaction.

LTO Ultrium 5 cartridges from Maxell boast NeoSMART (Super Maximum-capacity Advanced Reliability Tape) technology, a convergence of tape and manufacturing technologies that has been developed specifically for media with capacities in excess of one TB. NeoSMART draws on technologies to achieve greater capacity on LTO media. Each technology makes a contribution to the overall goal of achieving performance and reliability over an operating life of at least 20,000 load/unload cycles.

Maxell LTO Ultrium 5 cartridges utilize ultra-fine, ceramic-armored metal particles, providing superior recording performance protection against corrosion throughout product life. In addition, the cartridges offer accurate servo writing technologies, ensuring stable servo characteristics and tracking reliability corresponding to increased data track density. They also enhance stability for read/write performance, thanks to uniform, ultra-thin and a sub-micron magnetic coating. Finally, a built-in non-contact 8KB memory chip stores historical usage records and enables speed data searches by the drive.