Second-Generation LTO Ultrium Licenses Available

Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM Corporation and Seagate Removable Storage Solutions (RSS), the three technology provider companies for the Linear Tape-Open (LTO) Program, have made licenses for Ultrium tape format Generation 2 available.

The companies said the LTO Ultrium format Generation 2 is designed to provide users with a number of advantages over Generation 1. Using Generation 2 data cartridges, the storage capacity will increase up to 400GB compressed (2:1 compression), 200GB native. The transfer speeds have also been enhanced, improving the peak performance up to 40MB per second native. Ultrium format Generation 2 also has the capability to read-and-write Generation 1 cartridges in the Ultrium format Generation 1.

HP, IBM and Seagate RSS said all manufacturers will be required to complete the compliance verification testing process, which requires stringent data interchange testing in order to obtain a license for the Ultrium second-generation tape format.