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Status Not under consideration
Workspace IBM Diamondback Tape Library
Created by Guest
Created on Oct 9, 2025

RELATED IDEAS

Enable the capability of having minimum 2 or more versions of LTO Drives & Media in the one Diamondback Tape library.

At the initial launch, the DiamondBack Tape Library was designed to have one Drive Type - LTO9 - as LTO8 was neither certified nor tested.  However, expectation is to maintain a tape library for a dozen years or more - this ticks the sustainability requirement of all GoE's of today & similarly for many other industries.  Now with the release of LTO10, and with the focus of IBM development moving to LTO11 and possibly LTO12 being launched within that 12 year time-frame, ECMWF require to have the capability to have different drive & therefore media types in the one library, particularly since there is now no backward or forward compatibility between drives/media. With the overall capacity of a single frame being 46PB with LTO10, reaching 61.5PB with the 40TB Media Cart ... going to 90PB Standard with LTO11 or 115PB with Premier LTO11 and with a similar projection 140PB to 160PB at LTO12 in a full single frame ... whilst this is a commendable design capability of dense data storage the main issue becomes the ability to migrate that amount of data forward over time.  Rather than filling the whole library with one drive type & media, and perpetuating a throw-away society, only half fill with media & 6 early Generation Drives & at release of next generation 8 x LTO11 Drives and the remaining half for new media which would provide both capacity to migrate forward and for growth and then the ability to do similar at the next Gen+1 release. ECMWF therefore require sustainability to be more at the forefront of Diamondback Credentials as with the TS4500 which has that today.

Idea priority High
  • Admin
    CARLOS SANDOVAL
    Oct 22, 2025

    Thank you for your request regarding the enablement of mixed LTO generations on IBM Diamondback Tape Library. The Offering Team is declining this request due to the following:

    The design and implementation of Diamondback reduces the benefits of multi-generational tape drive support when the tape drives do not support downward compatibility. Data in the Diamondback is expected to live within the library without handling or data transitioning for the life of the library. LTO-9 and LTO-10 tape drives are not compatible media operations. While it is acknowledged that certain conditions exist that add value with more than one generation of tape drive in the same Diamondback, such as when a library has less than full capacity and a higher capacity cartridge with a subset of tape drives allows even more data in the library, these instances are less likely to be encountered as data storage planning enables the simpler modular design. Next Generation Diamondback libraries will consider a market availability of mixed generations based on the broad market input.

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