The first USB-connected LTO-9 tape drive has been presented by Japanese tape drive manufacturer Unitex.
UNITEX USB LTO-9 drive has a native capacity of 18TB on one tape and transfer rates of up to 300MBps, significantly more than any cloud backup or cloud storage solution could possibly attain. As long as you use the right adapters, the USB port (albeit a Type-A 3.0 variant) will be nearly universally compatible.
The LT80H, an LTO-8 USB tabletop drive, will be replaced by the LTO version, which is expected to cost significantly more than the LT80H. At less than $170 for an 18 TB Tape drive, LTO-9 cassettes are an excellent value.
A Unitex representative acknowledged that price has not yet been determined. As an interesting aside, they also brought up the company’s tape backup solution, which is already available to Japanese customers. “We are currently evaluating the possibility of expanding the service to global consumers,” the representative stated.
An effective cloud storage substitute
Hardware-as-a-service (HaaS) is gaining traction in the creative business, which generates a lot of data that needs to be backed up frequently. Users can now rent hardware from OWC (US-based rival) for a set monthly charge under its Fast Forward programme.
Tape backup is faster than uploading to the cloud, especially for smaller businesses that lack the infrastructure to store terabytes of data in a secure location. It would take roughly 17 hours to back up 18TB of data using USB, but it would take much longer using broadband, and tape provides an air gap that reduces the chance of ransomware assaults.
Renting an LTO-9 tape drive for a month at a time is an excellent option that should not be missed. It is also more robust, easier to store, takes up less space, and has a smaller environmental effect per TB backed up than hard discs, making it a vital part of any 3-2-1 backup scheme.
