HPE StoreEver LTO Ultrium Tape Drives

The HPE LTO-7 Ultrium 15000 tape drive represents Hewlett Packard Enterprise's seventh-generation of LTO tape drive technology capable of storing up to 15TB (compressed 2.5:1) per cartridge while providing ease of use with support for LTFS and AES 256-bit hardware data encryption easy-to-enable security to protect the most sensitive data and prevent unauthorized access of tape cartridges. Capable of data transfer rates up to 300 MB/sec (native), its Speed Matching feature further optimizes performance by matching speed of host to keep drives streaming and increase the reliability of the drive and media. HPE LTO Ultrium half-height drives are designed for server customers in direct attached storage (DAS) environments. For IT organizations with stringent, long-term data retention requirements, the Ultrium 15000's WORM (Write-Once, Read-Many) data protection feature offers a simple and secure method for archiving records as part of a compliance solution to meet the toughest of industry regulations. The Ultrium 15000 tape drives provide investment protection with full read and write backward support with LTO-6 media, and the ability to read LTO-5 cartridges.

 
 

HPE StoreEver LTO-6 Ultrium 6250 Tape Drive

The HPE LTO-6 Ultrium 6250 tape drive represents HPE's sixth-generation of LTO tape drive technology capable of storing up to 6.25TB (compressed 2.5:1) per cartridge while providing ease of use with support for LTFS and AES 256-bit hardware data encryption easy-to-enable security to protect the most sensitive data and prevent unauthorized access of tape cartridges. Capable of data transfer rates up to 1.44TB/Hour (compressed 2.5:1), HPE's exclusive Data Rate Matching feature further optimizes performance by matching speed of host to keep drives streaming and increase the reliability of the drive and media. HPE LTO Ultrium half-height drives are designed for server customers in direct attached storage (DAS) environments. For IT organizations with stringent, long-term data retention requirements, the Ultrium 6250's WORM (Write-Once, Read-Many) data protection feature offers a simple and secure method for archiving records as part of a compliance solution to meet the toughest of industry regulations. The Ultrium 6250 tape drives provide investment protection with full read and write backward support with LTO-5 media, and the ability to read LTO-4 cartridges.

 

HPE StoreEver LTO-5 Ultrium 3000 Tape Drive

The HPE LTO-5 Ultrium 3000 represents Hewlett Packard Enterprise's fifth-generation of LTO tape drive technology capable of storing up to 3TB per cartridge while providing ease of use with support for LTFS and AES 256-bit hardware data encryption easy-to-enable security to protect the most sensitive data and prevent unauthorized access of tape cartridges. Capable of data transfer rates up to 1TB/Hour. HPE's exclusive Data Rate Matching feature further optimizes performance by matching speed of host to keep drives streaming and increase the reliability of the drive and media. HPE LTO Ultrium half-height drives are designed for server customers in direct attached storage (DAS) environments. For IT organizations with stringent, long-term data retention requirements, the Ultrium 3000's WORM (Write-Once, Read-Many) data protection feature offers a simple and secure method for archiving records as part of a compliance solution to meet the toughest of industry regulations. The Ultrium 3000 provides investment protection with full read and write backward support with LTO-4 media, and the ability to read LTO-3 cartridge.

 
Since LTO generation 4, HPE LTO Ultrium tape drives support hardware-based encryption to enable greater levels of security:
  • AES 256-bit Encryption - Easy-to-enable encryption for a secure backup
    - Helps prevent unauthorized accessed of tape media if cartridges are lost or stolen
    - Eliminates the need to purchase and manage additional h/w
  • No loss in performance of backup
  • Hardware Based Encryption
     

    LTFS makes tape self-describing, file-based, and easy-to-use, it also provides users with the ability to use standard file operations on tape media for accessing, managing and sharing files with an interface that behaves just like a hard disk. In addition, LTFS provides the ability to share data across platforms, as you would with a USB drive or memory stick. Simply load a tape into the drive, mount it into the file system, and it becomes visible as a disk.

    For more information, including user guide, downloads and compatibility, visit:
    http://www.hpe.com/storage/ltfs
    Linear Tape File System (LTFS)
     

    HPE StoreOpen Standalone is a free software application that helps LTFS users to use and manage single tape drives.

    Available for Windows and Mac environments, it provides a native GUI with a familiar look and feel. It is installed automatically as part of the LTFS package and it completely removes the need for low-level terminal commands by guiding users through the full process of select, prepare and mount an LTFS cartridge.

    For more information, including user guide, downloads and compatibility, visit:
    http://www.hpe.com/storage/StoreOpen

    HPE StoreOpen Standalone
     

    Data Rate Matching combines sophisticated buffer management with HPE's exclusive Variable Tape Speed technology to allow the tape drive to match its transfer rate to the host speed dynamically and continuously across the wide range of transfer rates. This feature ensures that the tape drive continues to stream data regardless of the environment, and brings two big advantages:

  • It optimizes backup performance, regardless of the speed of the host or the network
  • It minimizes rewinding and repositioning of the tape, reducing wear and increasing reliability
  • Data Rate Matching
     

    Critical to the success of data retention policies in highly regulated environments is the ability to store and manage data in an unalterable state. Following stringent guidelines set forth by regulatory agencies such as the SEC and HIPPA, IT organizations must now integrate new solutions and policies that can verify the integrity of stored data for periods that can extend well beyond seven years.

    LTO generation 3 and higher tape drives feature the ability to archive and store data in a non-rewriteable format that meets the most stringent regulatory guidelines. Using a combination of integrated fail-safe features in the drive firmware, cartridge memory, and tape formatting, LTO Ultrium drives can archive large amounts of data for periods of up to 30 years in a secure, untampered state. Since all LTO generation 3 and higher tape drives include support for both rewritable and WORM media, IT organizations can now easily integrate a secure, long-term archiving solution into their current data protection strategy. As compared to other technologies that feature support for WORM storage, LTO tape drives offers the advantages of:

  • A single drive to support all backup and archiving needs
  • Two distinctive tape cartridges to easily distinguish and manage both rewriteable and WORM data cartridges
  • A specially designed WORM data cartridge with multiple integrated fail-safe features to prevent accidental or intentional overwriting of data
  • High-capacity, low-cost HPE WORM media that can store up to 15TB (LTO-7) of data on a single data cartridge
  • Support from many backup and archiving software vendors, providing the most comprehensive and mainstream support in the industry
  • The LTO open standard that offers greater choice and compatibility across all third- and later generation Ultrium products
  • WORM (Write-Once, Read-Many)
    Drive and Media Support
     

    Hewlett Packard Enterprise branded Linear Tape Open (LTO) Ultrium cartridges are designed, manufactured and tested to provide outstanding reliability for backing up, archiving and restoring your data. We continuously monitor the quality of our branded tapes using what we believe is the industry's most comprehensive and forensic specification for quality and reliability. Using real life conditions and both Hewlett Packard Enterprise and non-HPE drives, we supplement extensive in-process QA parametric testing with ongoing drive based scrutiny, to make sure performance is excellent for any combination of device, duty cycle and environment.

    Because HPE is a leading supplier of both LTO tape devices and media, we have the ability to re-create many different scenarios mirroring how customers use their cartridges. And many of HPE's protocols are either unique in nature or scale, such as the HPE 'Green Tape', and HPE 'Environmental Interchange' tests, or far surpass industry standards, for example, HPE's 'Locate/Rewind/Append' test. Since the beginning of 2016, almost 700 million meters of media have been pulled and over 40 million gigabytes of data have been written in HPE's demanding GTT protocol. All of these ongoing tests are intended to ensure HPE LTO Ultrium media is the most reliable you can find. Your best choice for ease of support and maximum dependability is to use HPE-branded Ultrium cartridges at all times.

    HPE Ultrium Storage Media
     

    HPE LTO Ultrium tape drives and automation are supported by HPE Library and Tape Tools (LTT). This tool is intended to help in the installation and maintenance of HPE tape drives and devices, including:

  • Verifies installation of the drive
  • Test/verify the health of the drive and media
  • Provides Hewlett Packard Enterprise support with detailed device information
  • Multiple options for finding and upgrading new firmware
  • Performance optimization and recommendations
  • Included with each Ultrium tape drive and available via free download supporting all HPE tape products
    Instructions and downloads of HPE Library and Tape Tools are available at:
    http://www.hpe.com/suppport/tapetools
  • Diagnostics
     
    HPE Ultrium tape drives are supported on the following classes of HPE systems:
  • HPE ProLiant DL servers
  • HPE ProLiant ML servers
  • HPE Integrity servers
  • HPE 9000 servers
  • HPE Apollol Servers
  • HPE Inc. workstations
    HPE Ultrium tape drives are also supported on server platforms from third-party manufacturers including:
  • Dell
  • IBM
  • Sun
  • Server Compatibility
     
    Microsoft® Windows, HPE-UX, Tru64, Red Hat Linux, SUSE Linux, IBM-AIX, Sun Solaris and other operating systems.
    OS Support
     
    Supported with Micro Focus Data Protector, ARCserve Backup, EMC NetWorker, EMC Retrospect, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager, Veritas NetBackup, Veritas Backup Exec, Symantec Backup Exec, BakBone NetVault, Commvault Simpana, Tolis Group BRU, Archiware P5, Qstar Archive Manager and others.
    Backup Software Support
     

    HPE SAS tape drives are available as internal and external models. Both models are supplied with SAS cables that allows you to connect to an internal port (if available) on the embedded SAS controller inside the server.

    Some server models will allow direct connect to a spare SAS connector on the native SAS controller. Other servers which do not have a spare connector might require you to reconfigure hard disk drive bays and in a few instances, you may also lose the use of one of the hard disk drive bays and will need to rebuild your RAID configuration. In these configurations the simple, recommended solution is connecting to an option SAS host bus adapter and optional SAS cable.

    For the most up-to-date information about recommended SAS HBAs and supported cabling configurations with your make and model of server, always refer to:

    SAS Installation