Imation Shipping LTO-5 Cartridges

Imation Corp. will begin shipping its Imation LTO Ultrium Generation 5 tape cartridges, with nearly double the storage capacity, increased data transfer rates, and a new partitioning functionality over the prior tape generation. This follows certification by the Measurement Analysis Corporation (MAC), an independent testing board for compliance verification testing, and the LTO technology provider companies: HP, IBM Corporation and Quantum Corp. Imation previously announced that it was the first company to obtain the license to develop and manufacture this new multi-terabyte LTO 5 tape.

“Imation is pleased to be one of the first to provide customers the advantages of next-generation LTO 5 tape cartridges. Magnetic tape remains the most cost-efficient way for businesses to address storage and compliance requirements, whether for long-term data archive or regular backup of active data, given tape’s energy savings and cost-per-gigabyte advantages over other methods,” said Subodh Kulkarni, chief technology officer and senior vice president of Imation’s global commercial business.

“With a native capacity of 1.5 terabytes and 3.0 terabytes of compressed storage, data transfer rates of up to 280 MB/second compressed, data encryption, and new partitioning functionality to enhance file control and space management, the LTO 5 format offers significant improvements over prior LTO tape generations. Customers can trust that an Imation LTO tape is of the highest quality and reliability, because Imation pioneered many of the manufacturing, servo-writing and cartridge technologies used in these tapes,” continued Kulkarni.

Imation Ultrium LTO 5 tape is the second generation to offer drive level hardware-based writing of encrypted data to the tape cartridge, helping protect the storage and transport of sensitive information. It also helps address compliance objectives with WORM (Write-Once, Read-Many) functionality. The LTO Ultrium format generation 5 drives are designed with backwards-compatible read-and-write capability with the Ultrium format generation 4 cartridges, and backward read capabilities with generation 3 cartridges, helping to protect investments and ease implementation.

Imation-manufactured LTO Ultrium generation 5
tape cartridges feature superior media
and cartridge construction, including:

• Imation proprietary TeraAngstrom technology – Results in tape with a significantly smoother surface and a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), delivering fewer errors and faster transfer rates.
• Imation advanced servo-writing technology – Ensuring precise alignment between drive head and data tracks for greater reliability.
• Imation patented corner snap – Improves cartridge strength and protects data during shipping or mishandling.
• Imation patented three-piece tape spool – Distributes stress more evenly over the tape surface for better performance and longer archival life.