The LTO Program Technology Provider Companies (TPCs) – Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM, and Quantum Corporation – have publicly released the specifications of the LTO Ultrium format generation 10, which is now available for licensing.
LTO-10 delivers 30TB native capacity (up to 75TB compressed) with a native data rate of 400 MBps. It offers optimised capacity for customers seeking long-term retention storage, enabling them to leverage existing infrastructure while enhancing cost-efficiency, cyber resilience, and data durability across archival, compliance, and hybrid cloud environments.
LTO-10 enhances usability by eliminating the need for media optimisation, as seen on LTO-9, providing higher bandwidth interfaces compatible with modern networks, and being delivered with quantum-safe encryption certificates.
“The latest generation of LTO technology effectively builds upon the capabilities of the previous generation to provide organizations with an even more powerful solution for their ever-growing data storage needs,” said Sam Werner, General Manager, IBM Storage. “LTO-10 is built to set a new bar for storage capacity, data density, and cost efficiency, and also includes post-quantum cryptography certificates for the NIST-standardised algorithms that are designed to protect data in this burgeoning era of quantum computing.”
Although LTO-10 does not offer backwards compatibility, it features an innovative new head design intended to improve reliability and performance in itself and for future generations of LTO drives. It is designed to significantly lower the total cost of ownership as a result of its 66.6% increased capacity compared to LTO-9. Additionally, users can potentially save up to hundreds of hours on initial startup by eliminating the media optimisation process required in LTO-9. As the world’s first post-quantum cryptography-ready tape drive, LTO-10 also provides advanced security during key exchange for dependable data encryption.
