LTO Program Announces Availability of Ultrium Format Generation 6 Technology Licenses

June 20, 2011

Tools

SILICON VALLEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Linear Tape-Open (LTO) Program Technology Provider Companies (TPCs) – HP, IBM and Quantum – today announced the availability of licenses for the LTO Ultrium Generation 6 format.

Although the LTO Ultrium Generation 6 format is still in development, the TPCs have provided the opportunity for licensees to gain insight on the emerging tape specification through a series of regular discussions surrounding its development. This visibility into the specification is intended to enhance licensee product development programs.

Plans for specifications for the Generation 6 tape cartridge include capacity of up to 8 TB*, almost triple the capacity over the previous generation, and tape drive data transfer rates of up to 525 MB per second*. Also included are features from previous generations of the LTO Ultrium format, such as encryption to help protect data in transition, Write Once Read Many (WORM) support to help address data security and compliance needs, as well as the dual partitioning feature, introduced in Generation 5, which when utilized by the Linear Tape File System specification can help provide faster data access and improve data management.

“LTO technology’s latest advancement was developed with the understanding that tape-based archiving continues to be a critical component of clients’ overall storage strategy,” said Chris Powers, director of Nearline Solutions, HP. “LTO Generation 6 enables vendors to deliver storage solutions with performance benefits as well as increased data capacity.”

Plans for LTO Ultrium 6 drive specifications include backwards-compatible read-and-write capability with LTO Ultrium 5 cartridges, and backwards-compatible read capabilities with LTO Ultrium 4 cartridges, helping to protect investments and ease implementation.

How to License LTO Ultrium Technology

The LTO Program offers several different license packages – from enhanced packages that provide the specifications and licenses to manufacture LTO Ultrium products, to basic packages providing LTO Ultrium format specifications.

Buyers seeking LTO Ultrium format-compliant products should look for the LTO Ultrium format compliance verification trademarks on both tape drives and data cartridges. Storage and media manufacturers and others interested in licensing LTO formats may obtain information by contacting the LTO Program through www.ultrium.com/contact.php.

About Linear Tape-Open (LTO)

The LTO Ultrium format is a powerful, scalable, adaptable open tape format developed and continuously enhanced by technology providers HP, IBM Corporation and Quantum Corporation to help address the growing demands of data protection in the midrange to enterprise-class server environments. This ultra-high capacity generation of tape storage products is designed to deliver outstanding performance, capacity and reliability combining the advantages of linear multi-channel, bi-directional formats with enhancements in servo technology, data compression, track layout, and error correction.

The LTO Ultrium format has a well-defined roadmap for growth and scalability. The roadmap represents intentions and goals only. There is no guarantee that these goals will be achieved. Format compliance verification is vital to meet the free-interchange objectives that are at the core of the LTO Program. LTO Ultrium tape mechanism and tape cartridge interchange specifications are available on a licensed basis. For additional information on LTO, visit www.trustlto.com and the LTO Program Web site at www.ultrium.com.

* Assuming a 2.5:1 compression with use of a larger compression engine history buffer

Note: Linear Tape-Open, LTO, the LTO logo, Ultrium, and the Ultrium logo are trademarks of HP, IBM and Quantum in the US and other countries.