Linear Tape-Open - Historical Context

Historical Context

Half-inch (1⁄₂-inch, 12.65mm) magnetic tape has been used for data storage for more than 50 years. In the mid 1980s, IBM and DEC put this kind of tape into a single reel, enclosed cartridge. Although the physical tape was nominally the same size, the technologies and intended markets were significantly different and there was no compatibility between them. IBM called their cartridge 3480 and designed it to meet the demanding requirements of their mainframe products. DEC originally called theirs CompacTape, but later it was renamed DLT and sold to Quantum Corp. In the late 1980s, Exabyte's Data8 format, derived from Sony's dual-reel cartridge 8mm video format, saw some popularity, especially with UNIX systems. Sony followed this success with their own 8mm data format, Advanced Intelligent Tape (AIT).

By the late 1990s, Quantum's DLT and Sony's AIT were the leading options for high-capacity tape storage for PC servers and UNIX systems. These technologies were (and still are) tightly controlled by their owners. Consequently, there was little competition between vendors and the prices were relatively high.

IBM, HP and Seagate sought to counter this by introducing a more open format focusing on this market segment. Much of the technology is an extension of the work done by IBM at its Tucson lab during the previous 20 years. Initial plans called for two LTO formats to directly compete with these market leaders. Ultrium was half-inch tape on a single reel, optimized for high-capacity and Accelis was supposed to be 8mm tape on dual-reels, optimized for low-latency.

Around the time of the release of LTO-1, Seagate's magnetic tape division was spun off as Seagate Removable Storage Solutions, later renamed Certance, which was later acquired by Quantum.