1. WHAT IS LTO TECHNOLOGY?
LTO Technology, or Linear Tape-Open Technology, was developed jointly by HP, IBM and Certance (Seagate) to enable compatibility between different manufacturers’ equipment by using an open format. LTO technology combines the advantages of linear multi-channel bi-directional tape formats commonly used today with enhancements in timing-based servo, hardware data compression, optimized track layouts and high-efficiency error correction code to maximize capacity and performance.

2. HOW OFTEN SHOULD I REPLACE MY LTO MEDIA?
Under optimal operating and storage conditions, LTO media is expected perform 250 full back-ups. Maxell recommends replacement of the media once 250 full backups have been performed.

3. CAN I DEGAUSS/BULK ERASE LTO TAPES FOR FUTURE RE-USE?
Do not ever degauss/bulk erase any generation LTO tape. This will erase magnetic servo signals pre-written on the tape, thus making the tape unusable.

4. WHAT IS THE OPTIMUM LTO TAPE “ENVIRONMENT”?
Operation Environment
Ambient temperature 50°F to 113°F (10°C to 45°C)
Relative humidity 10% to 80%
Storage Environment (non-archival)
Temperature 61°F to 95°F (16°C to 35°C)
Relative humidity 20% to 80%
Storage Environment (archival)
Temperature 61°F to 77°F (16°C to 25°C)
Relative humidity 20% to 50%

5. WHICH IS MORE OFTEN USED, NATIVE OR COMPRESSED?
How the data gets recorded in a media depends on the size and/or format of the customer data. Both native and compressed processes ensure the same recording reliability, since the data compression is managed by the drive’s data algorism. The actual magnetic recording pattern, such as recording wavelength and track density are unchanged.

6. WHAT ARE THE BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LTO FORMAT?
There are five generations of LTO media technology: LTO-1 through LTO-5. LTO compatibility industry standards define two concepts to protect data storage system investments:
1) An LTO drive can read data from a cartridge of its own generation and two prior generations
2) An LTO drive can write data to a cartridge of its own generation and to one from the immediate prior generation

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