LTO Program Finalizes Gen 6 Specs

Less than two years ago the LTO Program introduced a new partitioning feature for LTO generation 5 tape drives that enabled the Linear Tape File System (LTFS) which provided simple drag-and-drop capabilities for reliable and cost-effective linear tape.

The approach made locating and storing files in a manner like using disk or a memory stick. The new large digital file tape management delivers new applications for digital media storage across an array of industries.

This is the backdrop as the LTO Program Technology Provider Companies, HP, IBM Corporation and Quantum Corporation, announced the finalization of details for the licensing by storage mechanism and media manufacturers of the LTO Ultrium format generation 6 specifications.

LTO-6 offers high storage capacity, fast transfer rates, easy-to-use functionality and reliability. The result: LTO tape is considered the focal point of long-term storage solutions in industries such as media and entertainment, medical, finance, distribution, federal and analytics.

"With this next generation of LTO technology, we see tape moving from just being included in the data center game plan into a starring role," said George Crump, senior analyst with Storage Switzerland. "LTO tape will have a significant density advantage, more capacity on a per form factor basis, ease of use with LTFS, and a significant throughput advantage on a per device basis."

The recently-finalized LTO-6 specifications support tape cartridge storage capacity of 6.25TB, more than twice the compressed capacity over the previous generation, and tape drive data transfer rates of up to 400MB per second for over 1.4 terabytes of storage performance an hour per drive, assuming a 2.5:1 compression achieved with larger compression history buffer available beginning with LTO generation 6 drives.

As with previous generations, LTO-6 drives will provide backward compatibility with the ability to read and write LTO generation 5 cartridges and read LTO generation 4 cartridges.

In addition, the LTO Ultrium generation 6 format includes the partitioning functionality, enabling users to present a tape-based file system with the use of LTFS. With support for hardware-based encryption and WORM (Write-Once, Read-Many) functionality, LTO-6 is designed to provide a balance of performance, capacity, compatibility and cost control supporting a range of safe, secure and portable data storage options for backup and archive that are easy to use and address a majority of storage needs.

"As LTO tape evolves with greater capacity, speed and functionality, it will take on an even greater critical data protection role for an even wider array of applications," said Sanjay Tripathi, director and Business Line executive, IBM Data Protection and Retention Systems. "The continued development of LTO technology and LTFS reflect our belief that a smarter approach to storage can help customers not only improve overall system performance and reliability, but reap greater returns on their investments."

The LTO Program celebrates its 12th year with over 4 million tape drive shipments and over 200 million tape cartridge shipments. It will be presenting and demonstrating LTO technology at IBC in Amsterdam, DVExpo in Pasadena, CA, Storage Decisions in New York and Inter BEE in Tokyo.

How to License LTO Ultrium Technology
The LTO Program has historically offered several different license packages – from enhanced packages that provide the specifications and licenses to manufacture LTO Ultrium products, to basic packages providing LTO format specifications.

Read also:
Licensing Specs for LTO-6 Available in August, 2012
Finally only native 2.5TB and 160MB/s
LTO-6 Expected to Ship in 2H12
Said Spectra Logic launching pre-purchase program
First Step for LTO-6 (Native 3.2TB, 210MB/s)
Availability of licenses now, tomorrow for drives and media