Spectra T950 Tape Library

Enterprise tape for backup, archive and cloud

The Spectra T950 is Spectra Logic’s enterprise tape library. It is built for multi-petabyte backup, deep archive and secondary cloud repositories. It is used by businesses, research institutions and governments around the world. All slots are installed at the factory, and you activate them by licence key as data grows. Drives slide in without tools. When one frame is full, you add another: up to eight frames in total.

Capacity on demand

Start with as few as 100 LTO slots (or 90 enterprise slots) and add them in increments of 10 LTO slots or 9 enterprise slots. When you move to a larger enclosure, the library keeps its identity and configuration: serial number, network identity, partitions and settings. There is nothing to reconfigure on your hosts, and your original investment is protected.

TeraPack media handling

The T950 stores and moves cartridges in TeraPack containers. These hold 10 LTO cartridges (or 9 enterprise cartridges). TeraPacks are used for bulk import and export, and as a clean, stackable, secure case for storing media outside the library. Spectra says they cut media handling time by as much as 90%.

BlueScale management

Spectra’s BlueScale interface brings library management together in one place: configuration, partitioning, encryption keys, and library and media health monitoring.

• Shared Library Services (SLS): built-in partitioning lets one T950 appear as several libraries to different applications or departments. No external partitioning servers are needed.
• Media Lifecycle Management (MLM): records around 40 health data points every time a cartridge is loaded, so you can retire failing media before it affects a restore.
• Remote library controller: manage and monitor the library from anywhere on your network.
• Encryption key management: library-managed AES-256 encryption, with support for external key managers.

Connectivity and applications

The T950 supports Fibre Channel and SAS drive connectivity and is certified with all the major backup and archive applications and operating systems. It also integrates with Spectra’s own BlackPearl platform and StorCycle archive software. You can brand the library’s front panels to suit your data centre.

Is the T950 right for you?

The T950 suits organisations that expect to hold multiple petabytes on tape, need many drives running in parallel, or want to share one library across several applications. For smaller installations, the Spectra Stack gives you the same Spectra ecosystem in a modular, rack-mounted form.