Quantum Corp. , the leading global specialist in backup, recovery and archive, today announced availability of the industry's first tape products based on the generation 5 specifications for the Linear Tape-Open (LTO) program. This includes general availability of LTO-5 tape autoloaders, drives and media and limited availability of LTO-5 technology in Quantum's Scalar(R) tape libraries as part of an early customer adoption program. Today's announcement further extends Quantum's leadership in providing a range of tape- and disk-based solutions to meet different data storage, protection and accessibility needs. The new LTO-5 tape drives nearly double capacity and increase transfer rates by up to 15 percent over LTO-4 technology, and enable media partitioning functionality. These innovations, along with native encryption, enhance tape's role in providing long-term data retention, archiving and disaster recovery as an integral component of a broader tiered storage strategy.

"Tremendous growth in unstructured data, rich file formats from new digital technologies and requirements to hold on to that content for longer periods are stressing storage infrastructures across all markets," said Janae Lee, senior vice president of Marketing for Quantum. "In the face of these challenges, customers are increasingly looking for solutions that leverage the respective advantages of both disk and tape. Our 'first-to-market' position in LTO-5 is testament to Quantum's continued commitment to providing data protection and management products that effectively address evolving market needs."