LTO Technology Primer - Part One
The format specification has been designed to accommodate a number of different head technologies currently in use. For simplicity, this animation shows the read and write elements stacked.
The format specification divides the full tape width into four data bands. The tape head spans one band, and fills each data band sequentially. At the top and bottom of each data band is a servo band(shown in grey). The servo bands provide location information to the head as it writes and verifies data tracks within that band. The process of positioning the head on the tape is an interaction between the head, the media, and the servo elements of the system. The innermost bands are written first.
To afford protection to data written in the outermost bands, two blank areas called edge guard bands (shown in white) border the top and bottom edges of the tape.