IBM TS4500 Tape Library Supports LTO-8 Drive

IBM TS4500 Tape Library supports LTO Ultrium 8 tape drive technology

IBM TS1080 Model F8C is designed to be installed in an IBM TS4500 tape library to deliver high capacity and performance for midrange to hyperscale open systems environments.

This model incorporates the new IBM LTO Ultrium 8 tape drive with enhanced maximum tape drive throughput over the IBM LTO-7 tape drives (Ultrium 7). It has a native data transfer of up to 360MB/s for FH tape drives and 300MB/s for HH tape drives.

TS1080 tape drives support the LTO-8 media specification of over double the compressed capacity of up to 30TB with 2.5 to 1 compression (up to 12TB native capacity) as compared to previous LTO 7 compressed capacity of up to 15TB with 2.5 to 1 compression (up to 6TB native capacity) per tape cartridge.

LTO-8 tape drives can read and write LTO-7.

The TS1080 has an 8Gb FC dual-ported interface for connection to a wide spectrum of open system servers.

Key prerequisites
Appropriate levels of host and drive software are required to attach TS1080 Model F8C to a wide range of environments, including select IBM Power Systems, IBM System p, and other servers running Linux and Microsoft Windows OS environments that support FC interfaces.

Prerequisites for using encryption

Certain hardware and software prerequisites must be met before using encryption with TS4500 tape libraries.
With TS4500 tape libraries, encryption is managed at the logical library level. All encryption-enabled drives that are assigned to a logical library use the same method of encryption. The rules for setting up encryption differ based on whether you use library-managed encryption (LME) or application-managed encryption (AME). The following prerequisites apply:
- Tape drives must be enabled for encryption from the logical libraries page of the TS4500 management GUI
- Feature number 1604, LTO Library Managed Encryption, is required for LTO tape drives if using LME
- IBM Security Key Lifecycle Manager is required as the key manager when using LME with LTO

Planned availability date: November 17, 2017