What is a tape library?
A tape library is an automated storage system with several LTO drives, anything from a few dozen to many thousands of cartridge slots, barcode readers and a robot that moves cartridges between slots and drives. Tape libraries are also called tape silos, jukeboxes or tape robots. Your backup or archive software controls the library, so a single system can serve backups for a whole organisation or hold a multi-petabyte archive.
We supply LTO tape libraries from Spectra Logic, Quantum, HPE, IBM, Dell Technologies, Lenovo, Fsas Technologies and Qualstar.
Why a tape library?
Ransomware air gap
Cartridges sitting in library slots are offline. They can only be read when the library loads them into a drive. Partitions, vaulting and export slots add further isolation.
Petabyte economics
Tape has the lowest cost per terabyte of any storage. A library also uses a small fraction of the power of an equivalent disk system.
Scale as you grow
Most libraries use capacity-on-demand. Slots are already installed and you activate more with a licence key as your data grows.
Compliance ready
Barcode tracking, encryption key management, WORM media and audit logs help you meet retention and data protection rules.
Library sizes
| Class | Slots | Drives | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry / modular | 24–600 | 2–42 | Spectra Stack, Quantum Scalar i3, HPE MSL, IBM TS4300, Qualstar Q40/Q80 |
| Mid-range | 100–2,000 | Up to ~50 | Quantum Scalar i6, Spectra Stack (multi-module) |
| Enterprise | 1,000–10,000+ | Up to 100+ | Spectra T950, Quantum Scalar i6H, IBM Diamondback |
Model line-ups change regularly. Ask us for the current options and supported LTO generations.
What we need for a library quote
- How many drives? This depends on backup windows and how many jobs run at once.
- LTO generation: LTO-8, LTO-9 or LTO-10. Libraries can mix generations in separate partitions.
- Host interface: SAS, Fibre Channel or iSCSI.
- Capacity: the data you need to hold online today and in three to five years’ time.
- Software: the backup or archive application you use (for example Veeam, Commvault, NetBackup, IBM Storage Protect, Spectra StorCycle or Archiware).
Mixing LTO generations
Most modern libraries support partitioning: one physical library appears to your software as several logical libraries. That lets you run an LTO-10 partition for new backups alongside an LTO-9 partition that can still restore your LTO-8 archive. Your software tracks every cartridge by barcode, so it always knows where each one is.
Trade-ups, support and media
We can quote trade-ins against your existing library, renew or extend support, add drives or slot licences, and supply media in any quantity, pre-labelled for your library. For free advice or a quotation on a tape library, call 01256 331614.