The Fujifilm LTO Ultrium9 Data Cartridge (compatible with LTO-9) uses the firm’s proprietary technology to offer up to 45TB in storage capacity (18TB for non-compressed data) which is 1.5 times larger than LTO-8.

Fujifilm explains that magnetic tapes are attracting an increasing attention as storage media that provides long-term storage of large-capacity data safely at low cost. In addition, it has a significantly lower environmental impact as there is no need to have it constantly powered on during data storage, thereby mitigating the amount of CO2 emissions generated during data storage by 95% compared to hard disk drives (HDDs).

“The amount of data generated worldwide has exponentially increased in recent years with the introduction of 5G networks and high-definition 4K / 8K video, development of IoT, information and communication technology, and the use of AI for Big Data analysis. This includes “cold-data,” or data that was generated a long time ago and rarely accessed, which is estimated to account for more than 80% of all data.

“The utilisation of accumulated data, including cold data, is rapidly increasing for developing next-generation technologies, and so is the need for reliable and cost-effective long-term storage of such data for future use. Yet, consuming a large amount of electricity for using and storing high-volume data amounts will lead to increased CO2 emissions.”

The new LTO-9 features barium ferrite magnetic particles (BaFe magnetic particles) is formulated into fine particles with Fujifilm’s ‘NANOCUBIC technology’. This has resulted in the maximum storage capacity of 45TB (18TB for non-compressed data), some 1.5 times the capacity of LTO-8.

The new tape also delivers high-speed data transfer reaching 1,000MB/secs (400MB/sec for non-compressed data) for advanced convenience. Furthermore, there is no need to have it constantly powered on during data storage, thereby reducing the amount of electricity consumption in the process compared to HDDs.

Fujifilm says, “Magnetic tapes can also be stored offline, creating ‘air gap’ as a form of protection to minimise the risk of data damage / loss in cyberattacks. The fact that the storage media provides long-term storage of high-capacity data safely, has made magnetic tape a preferred choice of major data centres and research institutes for many years.”