Tape remains a popular storage medium, according to figures shared by the big three manufacturers. In 2024, 176.5 exabytes of tape storage were shipped.
These days, tape has gained a reputation as a dusty and outdated storage medium, but it continues to grow every year. This is evident from figures shared annually by IBM, HPE, and Quantum: the three largest manufacturers of storage tapes. Last year, they collectively shipped 176.5 exabytes of tape storage, which is a 15 percent increase compared to 2023.
For long-term data storage, tape still offers a cost-effective and eco-friendly medium. Tapes do not support the same read and write speeds as, for example, SSDs. The technology is therefore used for storing ‘cold data’ that you do not actively use but keep for several years. Even in high-tech computing centers, tape still has its place.
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More Capacity
Innovation in tape technology is not standing still. This year, a new LTO generation is being released. LTO is the universal format for tape storage (Linear Tape-Open) where the largest manufacturers align. As a result, tapes from different brands offer more or less the same storage capacity per unit.
LTO 10 increases the storage capacity per tape to 36 TB, compared to 18 TB for the current LTO 9. The LTO format is compatible for reading up to two generations back and one generation for writing. The roadmap is outlined up to LTO 14, which would offer 576 TB of storage per tape.
If the current release cycle of every four years is maintained, LTO 14 will not appear until 2040. Whether tapes will still be common in data centers by then remains to be seen, although they do not seem to be disappearing anytime soon.