We transfer your LTO data tapes / cartridges to accessible files on an External Hard Drive.

Linear Tape Open (LTO) is a data storage format that uses magnetic tape to store user information. Tape drive technology has been in use as far back as the 1st commercial computer in the 1950s. In it’s infancy, LTO required a huge amount of space, with the initial UNISERVO tape storage offering 225kb of data capacity over a quarter mile of metal magnetic tape, contained in a large cabinet.

Practical innovations on the technology would see the switch to a plastic based tape, significantly reducing the physical weight and size requirements into portable cartridge, while technical improvements led to a more efficient use of the tape surface, increasing the density of information that would be saved. Today, despite the high cost of a Tape Loader, LTO tapes themselves are one of the lowest cost per GB storage options available, with the highest data capacity.

While it’s slow transaction load times, and expensive front-end cost, prevent this format from replacing mechanical or solid-state hard drives on a consumer level, LTO is still widely used today as format of choice for long-term, high capacity archiving, due to it’s durability and low-access lifespan.