Tape Drive Technology Comparison: Super DLTtape Vs. LTO Ultrium
This white paper is a comparison of Super DLTtape technology with the Ultrium technology developed by the Linear Tape Open (LTO) technology providers, Seagate, HP, and IBM. Its focus is on the merits of the two technologies from a customer point of view, and as such it compares the features and benefits of the SDLT 220 drive with the three different implementations of Ultrium technology, taking into account the key factors a customer considers when choosing a data protection solution. It draws on secondary data from respected industry analysts such as IDC and Dataquest, independent third party test data, as well as extensive primary research conducted with IT managers in departmental and enterprise IT environments.
Technology Overview
Super DLTtape is the latest generation of the award-winning DLT tape technology. The SDLT 220 drive is a single reel, half-inch magnetic tape drive with a native capacity of 110GB a native transfer rate of 11 MB/sec. It is manufactured by Quantum Corporation and by Tandberg Data, and is sold and marketed by most leading vendors of servers and automated backup systems. It is backward read compatible with all DLTtape IV media written on DLT 4000, DLT 7000 and DLT 8000 tape drives.
Ultrium tape drives are the single reel implementation of LTO technology, a new platform developed by Seagate, HP and IBM. They also use half-inch magnetic media, have a native capacity of 100GB and are specified with transfer rates of 15 MB/sec or 16 MB/sec. They are sold by HP and IBM's captive server and automation divisions, as well as by a subset of other vendors. Ultrium drives are not compatible with any previous tape technolgy.