Datasheet

Proven Reliability HP ensures the highest level of quality with media specifications that far exceed industry standards.
It is doubtful if any other media supplier carries out such exhaustive qualification of the drive and
media as they are used in the field. This is because no media supplier is exposed to support of
hardware in the field and has a vested interest in reducing media-induced hardware issues.
In 2011, HP conducted the following media quality procedures:
2.6 million hours of quality control testing for HP branded media. Using 15,000 drives and
8,500 tapes
75,000 miles of new LTO-4 'green tape' were pulled through HP and non-HP devices
75,000 miles of new LTO-5 'green tape' were pulled through HP and non-HP devices
200,000 miles of LTO-5 tape (both green tape and media that was reused) were pulled
through HP tape platforms
HP testing includes procedures like drop testing, creep append, load/unload, environmental stress
tests and archival simulation that are not required to gain the LTO Ultrium logo
LTO Ultrium tape technology uses a "best of breed" technology approach, taking the best features from
other tape technologies and combining them into a single new technology without the need for design
compromises to accommodate legacy compatibility requirements. Designed for the demanding
environment of large-scale libraries, Ultrium media has a 30-year archival storage life.
HP Branded Media
Specification
HP believes that its test program for HP Ultrium media is the most thorough and comprehensive in the
industry. In order to carry the HP Brand, designated cartridges must satisfy an exhaustive battery of
additional procedures that relate directly to how the product is used in real life situations when real data
and real businesses are at stake. Some of these procedures - e.g. "five corner" environmental interchange,
load/unload for automation, ageing simulation and drop testing are not found in the standard logo test.
Over 2.6 million test hours on media and drives per year ensures that HP Ultrium media will always offer
maximum reliability even in the most extreme conditions.
HP LTO-6 Ultrium Tape
Technology
The latest HP LTO-6 Ultrium tape drive technology uses a linear format of 2,176 tracks, writing sixteen
(16) tracks simultaneously. The data is written in a serpentine pattern; the tape reverses direction after
each set of sixteen tracks is written.
LTO Ultrium formats are open standards. This means that data written on any HP StoreEver LTO Ultrium
tape drive for ProLiant servers, autoloaders, MSL, EML or ESL G3 can be interchanged directly with Ultrium
tape drives from other vendors.
Compression LTO-DC is an enhanced version of Advanced Lossless Data Compression (ALDC) hardware compression.
Compression is automatically turned "off" if the compressed data would cause an overall expansion in
data size.
Compatibility Testing HP LTO Ultrium data cartridges are fully supported and compatible with HP StoreEver LTO Ultrium tape
products. Because HP LTO Ultrium media is LTO Ultrium logo compliant, it may be used with any other
non-HP device that bears the LTO Ultrium logo.
QuickSpecs
HP Ultrium Media
Product Highlights
DA - 11529 EMEA — Version 19 — May 13, 2013 Page 4