FUJIFILM Launches LTO Ultrium 9 Data Cartridge—Cold Storage for up to 45TB Data

[btarunr]

FUJIFILM Recording Media U.S.A., Inc. is pleased to announce the launch and availability of its FUJIFILM LTO Ultrium 9 Data Cartridge (LTO-9). Fujifilm's LTO-9 complies with the ninth generation LTO Ultrium standards for magnetic tape storage media, marking a new standard of performance for backing up and archiving large volumes of data. Fujifilm's LTO-9 uses proprietary technology to offer up to 45 TB of storage capacity (18 TB for non-compressed data), a 50% increase from the previous generation of LTO tape.

Magnetic tape is increasingly recognized as an ideal storage media for long term archival of high-volume data, safely at low-cost. In addition, tape has a significantly lower environmental impact as there is no need to have it constantly powered-on during data storage, thereby reducing CO2 emissions generated during its lifecycle by 95% when compared to hard disk drives (HDDs).



"FUJIFILM LTO Ultrium 9 will meet the world's growing demands for data storage, cybersecurity and reduced climate impact," said Hironobu Taketomi, President, FUJIFILM Recording Media U.S.A., Inc. "This next generation of higher capacity and faster tape storage media represents a significant step towards reducing costs, lowering energy consumption and CO2 emissions, and leveraging tape's inherent security benefits."

Increased capacity meets growing data demands at lower cost
The amount of data generated worldwide has increased exponentially in recent years with the introduction of 5G networks, high-definition video, the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and more. As much as 80% of all data is estimated to be "cold" or rarely-accessed data that can be effectively and more economically moved to a tape storage tier, which offers the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) of any storage media.

Less energy consumed results in lower carbon emissions
To address climate change, major data centers and private enterprises are actively adopting renewable energy, or building a data infrastructure that minimizes power use.The reduced energy consumption of tape storage simultaneously reduces energy costs and CO2 emissions.

Increased capacity. Increased speed.
Fujifilm's new LTO-9 achieves its increased storage capacity using barium ferrite (BaFe) magnetic particles, formulated into fine particles with Fujifilm's advanced "NANOCUBIC technology," evenly distributed to coat tape surfaces, forming a smooth and thin magnetic layer. LTO-9 also delivers high-speed data transfer reaching up to 1,000 MB/sec. for compressed data (400 MB/sec. native), a 25% increase over LTO-8.

Offline storage offers protection against cybercrime
Tape can be stored offline and off-network, creating a physical "air gap" of protection to minimize the risk of data exposure to cyberattacks. Security for long-term storage of high-volume data has long made tape a preferred choice of major data centers and research institutes.

As the data storage tape manufacturer of computer-use magnetic tapes with the leading top global market share, Fujifilm will continue to develop and supply high-performance and high-quality media and services that satisfy customers' growing and evolving data storage needs.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Tardian]

Tape was an important medium for primary data storage in early computers, typically using large open reels of 7-track, later 9-Track tape. Modern magnetic tape is most commonly packaged in cartridges and cassettes, such as the widely supported Linear Tape-Open (LTO) and IBM 3592 series. The device that performs the writing or reading of data is called a tape drive. Autoloaders and tape libraries are often used to automate cartridge handling and exchange. Compatibility was important to enable transferring data. Initially, magnetic tape for data storage was wound on 10.5-inch (27 cm) reels. This standard for large computer systems persisted through the late 1980s, with steadily increasing capacity due to thinner substrates and changes in encoding. Tape cartridges and cassettes were available starting in the mid-1970s and were frequently used with small computer systems. With the introduction of the IBM 3480 cartridge in 1984, described as "about one-fourth the size ... yet it stored up to 20 percent more data," large computer systems started to move away from open reel tapes and towards cartridges.
UNIVAC
Magnetic tape was first used to record computer data in 1951 on the UNIVAC I. The UNISERVO drive recording medium was a thin metal strip of 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) wide nickel-plated phosphor bronze. Recording density was 128 characters per inch (198 micrometre/character) on eight tracks at a linear speed of 100 in/s (2.54 m/s), yielding a data rate of 12,800 characters per second. Of the eight tracks, six were data, one was for parity, and one was a clock, or timing track. Making allowances for the empty space between tape blocks, the actual transfer rate was around 7,200 characters per second. A small reel of mylar tape provided separation from the metal tape and the read/write head.
IBM formats
10+1⁄2-inch (270 mm) diameter reel of 9-track tape
IBM computers from the 1950s used ferric oxide coated tape similar to that used in audio recording. IBM's technology soon became the de facto industry standard. Magnetic tape dimensions were 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) wide and wound on removable reels. Different tape lengths were available with 1,200 feet (370 m) and 2,400 feet (730 m) on mil and one half thickness being somewhat standard.[clarification needed] During the 1980s, longer tape lengths such as 3,600 feet (1,100 m) became available using a much thinner PET film. Most tape drives could support a maximum reel size of 10.5 inches (267 mm). A so-called mini-reel was common for smaller data sets, such as for software distribution. These were 7-inch (18 cm) reels, often with no fixed length—the tape was sized to fit the amount of data recorded on it as a cost-saving measure.

Magnetic-tape data storage - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Moore than before?

 

[stimpy88]

I'd love one of these, but the entry price for the drive is astronomical, especially for something you may only use a handful of times before it goes wrong.

 

[Punkenjoy]

So a 18 TB (uncompress) at 400MB/s uncompress will take 13 hours minimum to fill up. It's reasonable

Generally you will want to have disk storage as staging area to ensure you can fill out this tape as quickly as possible. These are very unpractical without using tape libraries.

But once equipped properly, they are very good for long term archiving and offline/offsite backup. The things is those are hard to manage and very costly. But even today, they are still used a lot.