Quantum has announced that LTO Ultrium format generation 8 technology, with 2X capacity gain and 20 percent performance improvements over LTO-7, will be available in its Scalar  tape libraries and StorNext AEL archive systems beginning in December 2017.

The Scalar and StorNext AEL tape automation solutions available offer up to 10PB uncompressed in a single 19-inch rack, and up to 144 PB uncompressed within a standard data centre aisle.

The new LTO generation 8 doubles the tape cartridge capacity from the previous LTO generation 7, enabling storage of up to 30 TB per cartridge.

In addition, with tape drive data transfer rates of up to 900 MB* per second, or more than 3.24 TB of data an hour per drive, LTO-8 systems allow large files to be transferred more quickly.

LTO-8 also includes a new format feature that increases the capacity of the latest LTO generation 7 cartridges by up to 50 percent to store 22.5 TB* of enterprise data.

Quantum says the combination of LTO-8 technology with Scalar and StorNext AEL tape automation offers better storage densities than proprietary tape technologies, and with Quantum certified media, LTO bit error rates are equivalent to those of legacy proprietary media. LTO technology is the ideal solution for companies using tape for low-cost, long-term "big data" storage, or companies using tape as an offline copy to protect against ransomware.

* Assumes a 2.5:1 compression achieved with larger compression history buffer available beginning with LTO generation 6 drives.