Japanese tape drive manufacturer Unitex introduced the first LTO-9 tape drive with USB connection. Dubbed the UNITEX USB LTO-9, the tape drive offers 18TB of internal capacity on a single tape, with a transfer rate of up to 300MBps, much more than any cloud backup service can achieve.
Although the tape drive was launched as a Type-A 3.0 model, having a USB port means it has almost universal compatibility using the converter.
UNITEX USB LTO-9 tape drive specifications
The device is a successor to the LT80H, the LTO-8 USB desktop drive, and will likely be available at a significant price point. The LT80H has a $5,100 price tag, while the LTO version goes up to $6,000. The LTO-9 tape drive will be priced at a more reasonable $170, which is about half the price of a standard 18TB hard disk drive.
A spokesperson for Unitex, which develops the LTO-9 tape drive, also confirmed that pricing has not been finalized yet. Interestingly, however, he did mention the company’s offer of tape backup as an available service in Japan. “We are currently working to expand the service to global customers. ” said.
Backing up to tape can be faster than uploading to the cloud, especially for smaller businesses that don’t have the setup to keep terabytes of data in a safe place. While it may take about 17 hours to back up 18 TB of data via USB, we can say that it can take much more time over broadband.
Tape storage also provides a physical alternative that reduces the risk of ransomware attacks. Therefore, the opportunity to rent an LTO-9 tape drive for a short period of time each month should not be overlooked.
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