LTO-5 at a glance
- 1.5TB native, 3TB compressed (2:1)
- 140MB/s native transfer rate
- First generation with partitioning and LTFS
- Readable in LTO-5 and LTO-6 drives, and in LTO-7 drives (read only)
LTO-5: the generation that introduced LTFS
LTO-5 arrived in 2010 and changed how tape was used. It raised capacity to 1.5TB native and added media partitioning, which splits a cartridge into two independently accessible sections. That made the Linear Tape File System possible. One partition holds a self-describing index, so the tape can be mounted and browsed like a disk.
LTFS took tape beyond backup. Film and TV productions, broadcasters, research labs and CCTV operators began using LTO-5 to move and archive files directly, without proprietary backup software. That is still one of LTO’s biggest use cases today.
LTO-5 specifications
Compatibility
- An LTO-5 drive reads and writes LTO-5 and LTO-4, and reads LTO-3.
- An LTO-6 drive reads and writes LTO-5.
- An LTO-7 drive reads LTO-5 but cannot write to it.
- LTO-8 and newer drives cannot read LTO-5.
Availability and migration
LTO-5 media is now in limited supply. We can often source it for customers who still run LTO-5 drives. For long-term archives, we recommend migrating LTO-5 data to a current generation while LTO-6 and LTO-7 drives that can read it are still easy to find. A single LTO-9 cartridge holds the contents of twelve LTO-5 tapes.
We can check availability or plan a migration of your LTO-5 archive onto current LTO media.