Dell recently announced its Dell PowerVault LTO-4-120, a Linear Tape-Open drive storage device using the LTO-4 specification.
LTO-4 is the first version to enable device-level encryption, according to Dell, noting that this is important given the portable nature of tape and that backup tapes are often stored at off-site locations. If lost or stolen, encryption would help prevent the data from being accessed.
The Dell PowerVault LTO-4-120 offers a native capacity of 800GB and a 50% performance increase over the previous generation of drives. This allows customers to decrease backup windows by 33% and reduce the number of tape cartridges they are currently managing, according to Dell.
Standardized LTO technology ensures customers have forward and backward compatibility as well as vendor neutrality. The LTO-4-120 is backward read and write compatible with the previous generation and backward read compatible with media from the prior two generations.
Dell expects availability of the drives and media to by April 20 of this year. Pricing for the external standalone Dell PowerVault LTO-4-120 drive starts at about US$4,000. Media pricing begins at about US$200.
Dell PowerVault LTO-4-120
Photo: Company