Tape Storage Trundles On, Will increase Yearly Quantity to 128 Exabytes
“Tape storage is useless” is a kind of prophecies that has by no means appeared to actualize itself: demand for gradual but cost-effective and dependable storage options hasn’t gone the way in which of the dodo. Quite the opposite; the LTO (Linear Tape-Open) Program group (a collective of tape specialist firms made up of HPE, IBM and Quantum Company) simply introduced a 5% YoY enhance in shipments in comparison with the identical interval final 12 months.
That won’t look like a lot, however the larger context is that that 0.5% development rests atop a staggering 40% volume increase seen last year. In a market that is seen contractions, layoffs, and reducing gross sales volumes, that has to rely as a win (a lot of well-known {hardware} firms would have liked to point out these ends in their newest earnings report, in spite of everything).
The LTO shipments report additionally display the speedy adoption of the most recent know-how, LTO-9, in comparison with different technological leaps. LTO-8 continues to be an excellent vendor for value-conscious patrons — its 30 TB of compressed capability and as much as 750 MB/s knowledge switch charges are nothing to scoff at. However LTO-8 has been outdated by the ninth iteration, which has elevated compressed knowledge density (as much as 45 TB) and switch charges of as much as 900 MB/s.
And whereas whole variety of tapes shipped has been declining, it is necessary to keep in mind that a tape of at the moment can supply the identical storage capability as many tapes of yesterday. When you wished 45TB of compressed storage on an LTO-5 product stack, you would be looking to buy 30 1.5 TB LTO-5 tapes — volume lies in capacity, not on variety of models.
No, tape is not useless, and opposite to what you might have learn, HDDs aren’t going to be extinct by 2028, either. However whereas HDD shipments cratered by around 35% this year, tape nonetheless discovered room to develop. Applied sciences final for much longer than we give them credit score for, and the AI growth for unstructured knowledge means elevated demand for affordable, dependable, and capacious storage. The LTO Program’s development being largely fuelled by hyperscalers and enterprises is a testomony to that.
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