Overland Tandberg LTO Series, User Manual

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LTO Tape Drive User’s Guide 3 - Tape Media
10400934-001 ©2020 Overland-Tandberg
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The first set of tracks is written from near the beginning of the tape almost to the end of the
tape. The head then repositions to the next set of tracks for the return pass. This process
continues until all tracks are written and the cartridge is full, or until all data is written.
The cartridge door protects the tape from contamination when the cartridge is out of the drive.
The tape is attached to a leader pin behind the door. When the cartridge is inserted into the
drive, a threading mechanism pulls the pin (and tape) out of the cartridge, across the drive
head, and onto a non-removable take-up reel. The head can then read or write data from or to
the tape.
The write-protect switch prevents data from being written to the tape cartridge. For more
information, see
“Cartridge Write-Protect Switch” on page 36 .
The label area provides a location to place a label. For more information, see “Barcode Label”
on page 35 .
The insertion guide is a large, notched area that prevents the cartridge from being inserted
incorrectly.
Each cartridge has a life span of 20,000 load/eject cycles.
Cartridge Compatibility by Drive Type
This table illustrates the different cartridge generations supported based on the drive
generation in which they can be used. The code “–” means not supported.
Cleaning Cartridge
A specially labeled LTO Cleaning Cartridge is used to clean the drive head. The drive itself
determines when a head must be cleaned. It alerts you by the SCD flashing a
C
. To clean the
head manually, insert a cleaning cartridge into the tape load compartment. The drive
completes the cleaning automatically. When the cleaning is finished, the drive ejects the
cartridge, and the SCD is blank.
Ultrium 6 2500 GB
(6250 GB at 2.5:1 compression) Reads and writes data on 2176 tracks,
16 tracks at a time.
Ultrium 5 1500 GB
(3000 GB at 2:1 compression) Reads and writes data on 1280 tracks,
16 tracks at a time.
Ultrium 4 800 GB
(1600 GB at 2:1 compression) Reads and writes data on 896 tracks,
16 tracks at a time.
Type Native Data Capacity Recording Format
Cartridge
Gen.
LTO-8 Drive LTO-7 Drive LTO-6 Drive
4
– –
Read Only
5
–
Read Only Read / Write
6
–
Read / Write Read / Write
7 Read / Write Read / Write
–
8 Read / Write
– –