The Linear Tape-Open (LTO) backup technology may seem ancient and on its way out, but in reality, the tape backup hardware market is steadily growing. A report from the LTO Consortium states that in 2023, the total data quantity sold on tape reached 152.9 exabytes, a 3.14% increase from 2022.
Currently, there are only three major LTO tape backup manufacturers remaining – HPE, IBM, and Quantum. However, the backup technology continues to evolve constantly. The LTO standard has now reached version 9, released in 2021, with a capacity of up to 45 TB per cartridge, compared to just 200 GB for LTO-1 in 2000. Despite its advancements, tape-based storage’s weakness lies in the lengthy read-write processes, with it taking up to 12.30 hours to fully write 45 TB of data onto a single cartridge at maximum speed.
Source: The Register
Sample HPE LTO Tape
TLDR: Despite its antiquated appearance, LTO tape backup technology is experiencing growth, with the latest version boasting a capacity of 45 TB per cartridge. However, slow read-write times remain a drawback of tape-based storage.
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