LTO tape
Hacker ApprovedTape cartridge in Computers
Cheap per terabyte and rated for decades of storage, so people use it for large archives. Caveat: the drive is expensive and old drives are hard to find.
Cheap per terabyte and rated for decades of storage, so people use it for large archives. Caveat: the drive is expensive and old drives are hard to find.
32 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 23
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 72%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 23 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Low cost per terabyte
“For a few hundred TiB, LTO-9 magnetic tapes (18 TB per cartridge) become cheaper than hard disks, despite the huge cost of the tape drive”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Internet Archive's Storage” “Used tapes (with a lot of life left in them) on ebay are far less expensive per TB”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “Using Blu-ray M-Disk as backup of last resort” “they are a lot cheaper than optical discs. If you can afford the drive.”
Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results” - Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “Backups Aren't Simple”
- Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “Using Blu-ray M-Disk as backup of last resort”
- Comment from 14 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results”
- Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “Using Blu-ray M-Disk as backup of last resort”
- Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results”
- Comment from 1 Nov 2026 in “Malware uses LLMs to rank victims by how much they're worth”
Rated for decades of storage
“The LTO cartridges are quite robust and they are guaranteed for 30 years of storage after you write some data on them.”
Comment from 27 Nov 2025 in “DIY NAS: 2026 Edition” “LTO tapes are generally rated for decades of use so they’re pretty durable.”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Microsoft's new 10k-year data storage medium: glass” “Tapes themselves are very affordable and have a good shelf lifespan.”
Comment from 9 Mar 2026 in “Flash media longevity testing – 6 years later” - Comment from 14 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results”
- Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models”
Built for long-term archival
“Using LTO specifically for the purpose it was designed for is the exact opposite of insanity.”
Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results” “This is exactly how you are supposed to store archival media for decades, not on a NAS.”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “PBS loses 50TB of data; 70 years of TV history after cloud vendor defunct” “LTO via LTFS is probably your best long term bet.”
Comment from 27 Mar 2026 in “Nashville library launches Memory Lab for digitizing home movies” - Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “Flash media longevity testing – 6 years later”
Mature, reliable, widely available format
“these are battle-tested, supported for a long time, available, reliable”
Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results” “tapes are more reliable, more compact, faster for sequential transfers”
Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results” “I'd trust a used tape over a used hard drive every time.”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “Using Blu-ray M-Disk as backup of last resort” - Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Not user-friendly for everyday people
“Tape is really complicated and physically challenging, and there are no incentives for people investing insane amounts of time”
Comment from 27 Nov 2025 in “DIY NAS: 2026 Edition” “LTO tapes are the worst possible format for passing on family photos to family members.”
Comment from 5 Oct 2026 in “Using Blu-ray M-Disk as backup of last resort” “LTO is certainly not user-friendly, but neither is it especially user-hostile.”
Comment from 5 Oct 2026 in “Using Blu-ray M-Disk as backup of last resort” - Comment from 14 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results”
Long-term readability is uncertain
“the small magnetic domains don't hold data as long as the mechanical changes in optical disks”
Comment from 14 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results” “period N is going to be effectively 0 for any LTO generation I could possibly buy”
Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results” “stories about data on LTO tapes being unreadable after 5 years”
Comment from 14 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results” Drives expensive and hard to find
“they are a lot cheaper than optical discs. If you can afford the drive.”
Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results” “Super expensive, and hard to find drives.”
Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results” Compatibility across generations is shrinking
“I'm not sure I would bet on having compatible hardware to read a particular LTO generation tape”
Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “A Review of M Disc Archival Capability. With long term testing results” “Inter-generation compatibility has been going downhill recently”
Comment from 9 Jun 2026 in “Linear Tape-Open”
What people said
40 of the 46 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it blows away DVD-R for speed, size and cost”
“tapes are cheaper per TB, yes”
“I recently got 90 LTO5 tapes for $200 total. That's 135TB.”
“Linear Tape Open is remarkably Open for an enterprise product with Open in the name.”
“I'd trust a used tape over a used hard drive every time.”
“Used tapes (with a lot of life left in them) on ebay are far less expensive per TB”
“LTO is certainly not user-friendly, but neither is it especially user-hostile.”
“LTO tapes are the worst possible format for passing on family photos to family members.”
“each tape cartridge holds around 2Tb of data for about $20.”
“LTO, which I think is a lot less risky to sign a cheque for and I can buy right now”
“tape is going to be fine, as long as it's kept in reasonable conditions”
“LTO is shelf-stable, but good luck buying known-good or new drives for old formats.”
“This is exactly how you are supposed to store archival media for decades, not on a NAS.”
“will last at least 30 years without degradation”
“Inter-generation compatibility has been going downhill recently”
“LTO tape might be better if you can find a used tape drive at a reasonable price”
“LTO via LTFS is probably your best long term bet.”
“This is what I do to backup my NAS”
“Tapes themselves are very affordable and have a good shelf lifespan.”
“LTO tapes are generally rated for decades of use so they’re pretty durable.”
“these are battle-tested, supported for a long time, available, reliable”
“tapes are more reliable, more compact, faster for sequential transfers”
“Super expensive, and hard to find drives.”
“I'm not sure I would bet on having compatible hardware to read a particular LTO generation tape”
“If you advance by 4 generations, you can buy 1 new tape to replace 10 old tapes.”
“they are a lot cheaper than optical discs. If you can afford the drive.”
“they will be available since the format is so common”
“Using LTO specifically for the purpose it was designed for is the exact opposite of insanity.”
“LTO9 is like 45TB for <$100”
“period N is going to be effectively 0 for any LTO generation I could possibly buy”
“I wouldn't buy LTO-1 now, but later gens are going to be around for some time, just like CD-ROMs and other optical media”
“LTO is enterprise gear that is not suitable for people.”
“stories about data on LTO tapes being unreadable after 5 years”
“should last 30 to 50 years in good storage conditions”
“the small magnetic domains don't hold data as long as the mechanical changes in optical disks”
“the tapes are extremely cheap per gb”
“For a few hundred TiB, LTO-9 magnetic tapes (18 TB per cartridge) become cheaper than hard disks, despite the huge cost of the tape drive”
“The LTO cartridges are quite robust and they are guaranteed for 30 years of storage after you write some data on them.”
“Tape is really complicated and physically challenging, and there are no incentives for people investing insane amounts of time”
“LTO is eternal (or long enough to be able to move it from LTO-(N-4) to LTO-N at least).”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.