One of the 2 main producers of tape cartridge storage, FujiFilm, claims that they’ve a know-how roadmap by to 2030 which builds on the present magnetic tape paradigm to allow 400 TB per tape.
As reported by Chris Mellor of Blocks and Files, Fujifilm factors to utilizing Strontium Ferrite grains with a view to allow an areal information density on tape of 224 Gbit-per-square-inch, which might allow 400 TB drives. IBM and Sony have already demonstrated 201 Gbit-per-square-inch know-how in 2017, with a possible launch of the know-how for top quantity manufacturing in 2026. Current drives are over an order of magnitude smaller, at 8 Gbit-per-square-inch, nonetheless the delay between analysis and mass manufacturing is kind of important.
Strontium Ferrite would change Barium Ferrite in present LTO cartridges. Strontium sits on a row above Barium within the periodic desk, indicating a a lot smaller atom. This allows for a lot smaller particles to be positioned into tracks, and fortunately in keeping with Fujifilm, Strontium Ferrite reveals properties alongside the identical strains as Barium Ferrite, however moreso, enabling increased efficiency whereas concurrently rising particle density.
In commonplace LTO nomenclature, we’re at present on LTO-Eight the place the drives have 12 TB uncooked capability. Recent generational will increase in LTO are inclined to double the capability, so we’re LTO-13 for 384 TB drives. Mellor signifies that there appears to be a median 2.5 years between commercialization of successive LTO drive requirements, which ends up in the next desk:
| LTO Generation Progression | |||||||
| AnandTech | Standard | Retail | Length | Raw Cap. |
Speed MB/s |
Time to fill |
Material |
| LTO-1 | 2000 | 609 m | 0.1 TB | 20 | 1h23 | MP | |
| LTO-2 | 2003 | 609 m | 0.2 TB | 40 | 1h23 | MP | |
| LTO-3 | 2005 | 680 m | 0.Four TB | 80 | 1h23 | MP | |
| LTO-4 | 2007 | 820 m | 0.Eight TB | 120 | 1h51 | MP | |
| LTO-5 | 2010 | 846 m | 1.6 TB | 140 | 3h10 | MP | |
| LTO-6 | 2012 | 846 m | 2.5 TB | 160 | 4h20 | MP/BaFe | |
| LTO-7 | 2010 | 2015 | 960 m | 6.Zero TB | 300 | 5h33 | BaFe |
| LTO-8 | 2010 | 2017 | 960 m | 12.Zero TB | 360 | 9h16 | BaFe |
| LTO-9 | 2014 | 2020 | 24.Zero TB | *708 | *9h25 | BaFe | |
| LTO-10 | 2014 | *2022 | 48 TB | *1100 | *12h07 | Ba/Sr Fe | |
| LTO-11 | 2017 | *2025 | 96 TB | *1800 | *14h49 | SrFe | |
| LTO-12 | 2017 | *2027 | 192 TB | *2400 | *22h13 | SrFe | |
| LTO-13 | *2021 | *2030 | *384 TB | SrFe? | |||
| LTO-14 | *2021 | *768 TB | |||||
| *Unconfirmed/estimated | |||||||
Current era LTO-Eight cartridges take at the least 9h16 to fill, with predicted speeds on future drives rising that even additional. Current LTO specs go as much as LTO-12, and so 400 TB would thus come within the LTO-13 era.
Fujifilm states that 400 TB is the restrict of Strontium Ferrite, indicating that new supplies could be wanted to transcend. That mentioned, we’re speaking about solely 224 Gbit-per-square-inch for storage, which in comparison with mechanical onerous disks going beyhind 1000 Gbit-per-square-inch at this time, there would look like loads of room on the prime if the applied sciences may converge.
Prices for present LTO-Eight tape are the bottom out of all storage media. Depending on quantity, costs round 0.8-1 cent per gigabyte is pretty frequent. Currently solely Sony and Fujifilm are licencees to create LTO-Eight media, nonetheless different corporations equivalent to HPE and IBM resell fashions below their very own model.
Source: Blocks and Files
