LTO-10 is the newest format specification for LTO Ultrium tape drives and media. It provides a substantial increase in capacity and storage density compared to the previous generation, LTO-9.
Ready for the era of Big Data
According to analyst John Monroe from Further Research, the amount of installed base capacity managed by Enterprises is set to increase from 6 Zettabytes (ZB) in 2025 to 35 ZB by 2030. More data will be created and need to be stored in the coming years than in the whole of human history. As such, LTO technology and the new LTO-10 format have never been more relevant.
The Active Installed Base of Enterprise Petabytes Delivered, 2010-2030
Source: Storage In The Age Of Minimal Data Deletion, Further Research, May 2023
For LTO generation 10, the LTO Program has balanced the cost and benefit of new technology by offering two cartridges, with 30 TB and 40 TB native capacity, to address current and future demands for storage space. These capacities can rise to 75 TB and 100 TB respectively with a 2.5:1 compression ratio. LTO-10 40 TB cartridges provide a 122% capacity boost over LTO–9 and a 1,500% increase over LTO-6 technology, launched just over a decade ago, with maximum transfer speeds of 400 MBps (native) and 1,200 MBps (compressed at 2.5:1 using the 32Gb Fibre Channel interface).
What’s under the hood?
Improved linear and track density
Higher capacities have been achieved by increasing both the linear and track density. New LTO-10 media utilizes an advanced strontium-doped Barium Ferrite tape formulation that offers greater durability and increased capacity. Additionally, there are 15,104 data tracks across LTO-10 media, representing a 68.5% increase over the previous generation’s 8,960 tracks. The high-bandwidth servo system features a low-mass servo to help track servo bands more effectively and improve data throughput in less-than-optimal shock and vibration environments.
WORM and quantum-safe encryption
LTO generation 10 specifications include multi–layer security support with hardware–based encryption, immutable WORM (Write–Once, Read–Many) functionality, and fast data access with the Linear Tape File System (LTFS). Furthermore, LTO-10 hardware-based encryption utilizes quantum-safe AES/GCM256 symmetric keys and is post-quantum cryptography key exchange ready. This will ensure LTO tape technology continues to protect and secure data in an ever-shifting and increasingly sophisticated threat landscape.
New head design and no need for initialization
A new, advanced tilted LTO-10 head design eliminates the need to pre-initialise LTO-10 cartridges before use. As such, this will significantly improve the day-to-day user experience when deploying LTO-10 tape technology. To accommodate the improved head design and increase in capacity, backwards compatibility is not supported in LTO-10. Backwards compatibility could be implemented in future LTO generations based on market demand.
LTO cartridge memory
Contained within the LTO data cartridge is the LTO-CM, which is a passive, contactless silicon storage device that is part of the cartridge. The LTO-CM is designed to store information about the specific cartridge, the media within the cartridge, and the data on the media. The storage capacity of the Generation 10 LTO-CM is 32,736 bytes. Communication between the drive and the LTO-CM is through a low-level RF field transmitted by the drive to the cartridge.
LTO-10 maintains a robust, scalable, and adaptable open tape storage format, giving users the confidence to invest in tape as a primary archival and data protection solution, with the added benefit of offline storage to protect against the growing threat of cyberattacks.
Future-proof your archives with LTO technology
According to the INSIC tape technology roadmap, the potential for tape technology to meet robust capacity predictions over the next decade shows a clear advantage to HDD technologies. Current LTO and enterprise tape drives operate at areal densities that are about two orders of magnitude less than the latest HDD. That means it is possible to continue increasing the capacity of tape technology at historical rates through approximately 2034.
Compare, for example, an 18 TB hard disk (HDD) product using 1022 Gb/in2 with the latest 30 TB LTO-10 cartridge, which uses just 12 Gb/in2. This means an LTO-10 tape can deliver the same capacity with only 1/85th of the areal density of a similar capacity HDD. Tape has the headroom to expand further and faster than HDD, says INSIC, providing much higher rates of capacity growth for the foreseeable future.
Analyst viewpoint on LTO-10
“Tape continues to deliver some of the best value in data storage, combining low costs with minimal energy use. In addition, with the vast cyber threat landscape expanding, tape remains an ideal solution for keeping data safe and protected. The many benefits of this technology should not be overlooked as tape advances and organizations reconfigure their data architectures for the modern era.”
Phil Goodwin, Research Vice President, Infrastructure Software Platforms, IDC.
Frequently Asked Questions about LTO-10
What are the key features of the new LTO-10 tape drive?
LTO-10 drives offer a 122% improvement in capacity over LTO-9 models. LTO-10 tape drives support up to 40 TB native capacity and 100 TB compressed, at 2.5:1. Throughput (I/O) currently supports up to 400MBps native and up to 1200MBps at 2.5:1 compression using full height drives with the 32 Gbps Fibre Channel interface. LTO-10 tape drives do not support backwards write or read compatibility. Write Once Read Many (WORM) tapes and media partitioning are supported.
What interfaces for I/O are supported?
LTO-10 Full High Tape drives support 32 Gb Fibre Channel that can auto-negotiate to 16Gb Fibre Channel or 8Gb Fibre Channel and SAS 12 Gb that can negotiate to 6Gb connectivity.
Why is LTO-10 being introduced with only Full Height (FH) drives?
LTO-10 introduces a significantly advanced head guide assembly, this assembly requires modifications to the current Half Height (HH) design. To prevent delay in the introduction of viable technology, the first LTO-10 solutions will feature FH drives with HH drives to follow.
When will the LTO-10 HH drive be available?
The LTO Program does not have control over the timing of product releases. Please contact your vendor for further information.
Why did SAS stay at 12Gbit rather than 24Gbit?
12Gbit support is the most common connectivity for SAS in the field. Supporting 24Gbit could cause complexity in field support for clients and is not required to meet the highest 2.5:1 compression ratio.
Why has support for backwards compatibility been dropped in LTO-10?
Long running technology often requires major technology jumps to continue offering products. Every 2-3 generations LTO has experienced jumps in technology that do not always support the ability to support older products. LTO-10 makes a significant shift in technology that is not backwards compatible. Major trade-offs would be required to continue to support backwards compatibility, largely in terms of LTO-10 capacity. The technology shift of LTO-10 establishes the foundational future for LTO tape formats.
Does LTO-10 require media optimization?
No, the LTO-10 technology eliminates the need for media optimization seen in LTO-9. Unloads are also expected to improve from LTO-9 to LTO-10
Will LTO-11 support backwards compatibility with LTO-10?
Backwards compatibility will be decided at the time of LTO-11 specification and will be based on the needs and requirements of customers at that time.
Do the market-leading ISVs support LTO-10?
Yes, all ISVs that utilize LTO-9 today will support LTO-10 at or slightly after the general availability of the drives
Does the LTO-10 Tape drive support LTFS?
Yes, LTO-10 drives support LTFS.
How are businesses deploying LTO tape?
According to TrendFocus 60% of customers are using tape for traditional back- ups. 65% of customers are looking at tape as a top choice for storing long-term data (archiving). Other use cases include:
- ISV traditional back-ups
- Archiving
- Long term retention
- Lowest cost tier for Cloud providers
- Second copy in a global Namespace
- Primary copy of analytic data
What type of media is used for LTO-10?
Both 30 TB and 40 TB LTO-10 media use Strontium-doped Barium Ferrite (BaFE).
40 TB cartridges utilize an advanced base film formulation, known as Aramid, that enables a thinner, smoother tape, resulting in a longer tape length in the standard LTO Ultrium form factor cartridge—delivering an additional 10 TB of native capacity over 30 TB LTO-10 media. Magnetic tape formulation advances are paired with refinements in the LTO-10 head design already introduced with the current generation.
Are LTO-10 tape drives RoHS3 compliant?
Yes, LTO-10 tape drives are fully RoHS3 compliant.
For how long will LTO-7, LTO-8 and LTO-9 tape drives and media continue to be available?
For now, LTO-7, LTO-8 and LTO-9 tape drives and media are available from multiple vendors. Different suppliers may have different timelines for withdrawing support for older generations of LTO technology – you should consult your preferred supplier. Historically, each LTO generation has enjoyed a very long life cycle and LTO-7, LTO-8 and LTO-9 should be available for the forseeable future, with LTO-7 likely the first to reach End Of Life. Customers using these technologies should have plans to invest and transition to newer LTO generations as platforms age and their capacity needs increase.
Does the LTO-10 drive support compression? How does it work?
LTO-10 supports lossless hardware compression that compresses the data at tape drive speeds. The compression engine will compress the data to the highest possible compression. If the data is not compressible it will be passed through the compression engine without compressing the data. Compression is on by default and does not need to be turned off. Compression does not affect encryption; the data is compressed then encrypted.
How will LTO media maintain its advantage over disk/hard drive/cloud storage?
According to the INSIC tape technology roadmap, the potential for tape technology to meet robust capacity predictions over the next decade shows a clear advantage over HDD technologies. Current LTO tape drives operate at areal densities that are about 100th of those of the latest HDD. That means it is possible to continue increasing the capacity of tape technology at historical rates for at least the next decade.