HPE LTO-9 External and Internal Drives for Autoloader and Librairies

By Andrew Dodd, storage media, and storage block blogger, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP

LTO-9 comes to HPE StoreEver tape storage solutions.

Learn how StoreEver LTO-9 tape solutions continue the tradition of innovative, secure, scalable, and low-cost company’s tape storage.

First came the release of LTO-9 enabled T950 and TFinity enterprise tape libraries, along with firm’s LTO-9 data cartridges in the fall. This means that the entire company’s tape portfolio now has support for latest LTO-9 technology.

With up to 45TB compressed capacity (18TB native) and transfer speeds of up to 1,000MB/s (for systems with full height drives and 800MB/s for those with half height), LTO-9 is available as of January 10, 2022, for the following entry and mid-range StoreEver solutions:

• StoreEver LTO-9 45000 internal and external standalone tape drives

• StoreEver MSL 1/8 autoloader

• StoreEver MSL 2024 tape library

• StoreEver MSL3040 tape library

• StoreEver MSL6480 tape library

Click to enlarge

StoreEver MSL advantage
One of the benefits of the StoreEver MSL tape portfolio (and something that isn’t available from competing vendors) is the ability swap out older drive kits – without additional cost via extra licensing fees – when you purchase a drive upgrade.

StoreEver MSL3040

For example, let’s say you have a StoreEver MSL3040 with LTO-6 tape drives and you would like to upgrade the library with LTO-9 capabilities. The company allows you to install the new LTO-9 tape drive in your existing library without having to purchase a new module for the LTO-9 devices or a license for the additional hardware.

Budget friendly
Another area where you can make budgets work harder with the company is via the newly enhanced firm’s Pointnext Tech Care warranty and support services. It is a shift in the role of support from fix my hardware’ to help me get the most from my HPE product and drive my business forward.

Sometimes, when considering different vendor offerings, it may appear easier just to consider the cost of the basic hardware and make a purchasing decision on the price tag alone. But if you compare the total cost for different brands of tape library by factoring in the cost of essential support and maintenance, then you may find that a StoreEver system is cheaper to own and run.

And all your StoreEver and Pointnext Tech Care products and services can be purchased using an company’s Financial Services (HPEFS) flexible finance agreement.

HPEFS gives you the flexibility to access all the funding you need, without the usual drawbacks of equipment obsolescence and depreciation, plus the chance to benefit from the latest tape technology.

By using HPEFS to purchase your StoreEver tape device, you can:

• Neutralize the upfront capital expenditure cost of a new LTO-9 installation

• Acquire funds to upgrade an existing installation

• Structure the payment over a longer period of time so that becomes smaller and manageable

Greater management insight and control

Command View for Tape Libraries (CVTL) software
Click to enlarge

Once you have actually purchased and installed your new StoreEver system, company’s Command View for Tape Libraries (CVTL) software applications provide insight and control to help you manage your tape ecosystem.

The basic CVTL license, which is free, lets you manage and run reports on multiple libraries from any location – which could be more handy if you’re working from home – and provides a lot of features that aren’t available in standard ISV backup software. Additional licensed features such as TapeAssure Advanced let you take advantage of proactive and predictive reporting on the performance and health of the tape library, drives and media. Another licensed module, StoreEver CVTL Data Verification also verifies the health of the data written to each tape cartridge.

All the StoreEver MSL systems listed above are also compatible with the StoreEver MSL Encryption Kit. This is a self-contained encryption system which can be deployed without the need for an extra server or appliance, additional software, or the complexity of a full KMIP solution. It can provide simple, yet secure, additional safeguards for data at rest making data stored on your LTO-9 data cartridges impossible to compromise – even if the tape should fall into the wrong hands or be lost through human error.

Dependable innovation
When a solution has been around for as long as LTO Ultrium, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that something better is either here or just around the corner. In the case of LTO technology, however, it continues to innovate and thrive, because so far nothing has been invented that does a better job of storing vast amounts of data, reliably, securely, cost effectively and sustainably.

StoreEver LTO-9 technology is the latest in a long line of the company’s tape solutions that have been safeguarding data for businesses of all sizes for more than 20 years.