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Whether you’re a business looking to recover value from retired assets or an individual hunting for affordable tech, our guides and insights help you make smarter decisions in the IT resale market.

Category: LTO

LTO tape
Data Tape Media
Alex

LTO-10 Is Here: What It Means for Tape Buyback Value

In May 2025, the tape storage world welcomed LTO-10, the latest generation in Linear Tape-Open (LTO) technology. For Network Administrators managing large-scale data backup and archiving, this arrival signals a new era of storage capacity, speed, and security—but it also shakes up the tape buyback market. What does LTO-10 mean for the value of your existing tape inventory, especially older generations like LTO-7, LTO-8, and LTO-9? How should IT asset disposition strategies adapt in this evolving landscape? In this post,

Alex August 18, 2025
holodrive tape drive
Big Data
Alex

Emerging Data Storage Options: Balancing Today’s Tape with Tomorrow’s Innovation

Why Emerging Storage Matters Now The global explosion of big data has made storage more than a technical decision—it’s a strategic one. Cost, compliance, security, and sustainability are all tied to how organizations manage and protect their growing data volumes. For decades, Linear Tape-Open (LTO) has been the reliable choice for long-term archival storage. But now, new technologies—like holographic ribbon storage—are emerging that could redefine the way IT managers plan their infrastructure. This blog explores two key players in the

Alex August 18, 2025
Data Storage
Alex

The Reel Deal: LTO Tape Storage in the Motion Picture Industry

In today’s digital film production landscape, we often hear about cloud storage and ultra-fast SSDs. Yet, behind the scenes of blockbuster movies and cutting-edge visual effects, a technology that many consider “old school” quietly supports the industry’s massive data needs: LTO tape storage. Motion picture studios generate vast amounts of data—from raw 4K and 8K footage to complex visual effects layers and sound design files. Managing these massive files efficiently and securely is critical. Despite the rise of flashy new

Alex August 12, 2025
LTO tape cartridges lined up on a clean desk with a professional in the background examining a tape drive.
LTO
Alex

LTO Tape Comparison By Generation

Quick Answer LTO tape generations range from LTO-1 (100GB native, released 2000) through LTO-9 (18TB native) and the newly available LTO-10 (30–40TB native), with each generation roughly doubling capacity while maintaining backward compatibility — drives typically read one generation back and write one generation back. For most archives, older generations (LTO-4 through LTO-7) offer the best cost per terabyte, while newer generations (LTO-8/9/10) suit organizations needing maximum density and are worth more on the tape buyback market when retired. If

Alex August 12, 2025
Technician Using LTO Cleaning Tape in a Data Center
LTO
Alex

How to Use LTO Cleaning Tape the Right Way

Your tape drive just flashed a “clean” light. Do you run a cleaning tape right away? Every week? Every time a backup fails? Getting this wrong wears out drive heads faster, and LTO drives are not cheap to replace. This guide covers when to clean, how to do it step by step, the mistakes we see most often, and what to do with the tapes and drives you no longer need. We handle thousands of used LTO cartridges every year,

Alex August 12, 2025
LTO 8 degassing
Data Destruction
Alex

Can Your Degausser Handle LTO8 Tapes and Higher? Here’s How to Know

A Quiet Crisis in Tape Sanitization In the world of data sanitization, complacency is the enemy. With each new generation of LTO (Linear Tape-Open) and 3592 tape technology, data density, performance—and coercivity—rise. Yet while backup engineers and IT asset disposition (ITAD) professionals focus on managing data growth and regulatory compliance, one critical question often goes unasked: Can your degausser actually sanitize LTO-8 and LTO-9 tapes? If your answer is, “We’ve been using the same NSA-listed degausser for years,” you might

Alex June 23, 2025
Data
Dustin

Why Ultrium LTO tapes are important part of your data backups

In the digital age, data is the lifeblood of any organization. It fuels decision-making, drives operations, and underpins strategic planning. But what happens when data is lost or compromised? The consequences can be dire. That’s why data backup is crucial. It’s a safety net that ensures business continuity and protects valuable information. Among the myriad of backup solutions available, Ultrium LTO tapes stand out. They offer a unique blend of cost-effectiveness, long-term retention, and security. These tapes are not new

Dustin September 26, 2024
Data Center Services
Steven

The Pros and Cons of Using M8 for LTO-7 Tapes in an LTO-8 Tape Drive

LTO (Linear Tape-Open) technology has been a go-to solution for data storage, backup, and archiving for many years, thanks to its reliability, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. With the release of each new generation of LTO tapes and drives, storage capacity increases, allowing organizations to handle larger datasets with ease. One feature introduced with LTO-8 tape drives is the M8 (or M-8) format, which allows users to increase the storage capacity of an LTO-7 tape when used in an LTO-8 drive. However,

Steven September 19, 2024
Data Destruction
Steven

Degaussing – Data Destruction Basics

What is Degaussing? If you’re familiar with the data storage industry, there’s a chance you’ve come across the term degaussing before. Most people associate this funny little word with erasing data, and they wouldn’t be wrong. But degaussing is more than just erasing data, it’s rendering it irretrievable for any future use. Follow along as we go more in depth into the degaussing process and reveal more than you might know.  By definition degaussing is technique used to permanently delete

Steven January 5, 2021
LTO
Norm

When Will Ultrium LTO-7 Tape Drives & Media Begin Shipping? Everything You Need to Know

A Complete Guide for IT Professionals For IT teams and data-center operators planning storage upgrades or evaluating used media for backup and archival workflows, one question still comes up often: When did Ultrium LTO-7 Tape Drives and LTO-7 media actually begin shipping? Today, many organizations still rely on LTO-7 for its balance of capacity, durability, and cost efficiency — and those researching the technology want clear historical context before purchasing or reselling hardware. At WeBuyUsedITEquipment.net, we work with LTO media

Norm August 28, 2015

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