IBM & Fujifilm Keep Tape–Yes, Tape–Alive With New Release That Stores Up To 50TB

In 2023, the idea of tape as a storage solution may seem incompatible with reality. After all, how is the old medium going to contain terabytes upon terabytes of data?

Intriguingly, Fujifilm and IBM recently unveiled a jointly-developed tape storage system with a native capacity of 50TB—marking the highest ever for a data tape cartridge.

This collaborative effort has resulted in the creation of a high-density tape cartridge specifically tailored for IBM’s latest enterprise tape drive, the TS1170.

Key to this breakthrough is the incorporation of a newly developed technology within the sixth-generation IBM 3592 JF tape cartridge. The technology employs fine hybrid magnetic particles, allowing for greater data storage capacity and efficiency.

Optimizing the magnetic particles results in an increased areal recording density, enabling more data to be stored within the same physical space.

For this to work, the team has employed high-dispersion technology to ensure an even distribution of the magnetic particles.

This prevents the aggregation of individual particles and ensures that they are consistently dispersed throughout the cartridge’s surface.

Improved thin-layer coating technology also contributes to the innovation’s efficiency by creating a smoother and more uniform tape surface, resulting in more accurate data retrieval.

In addition, the product’s design has also been optimized for practicality and efficiency. By utilizing a thinner and stronger base film, Fujifilm and IBM have managed to increase the tape length per data cartridge by a substantial 15% compared to the previous generation.

This clever engineering not only boosts data storage capacity but also ensures a more reliable and robust storage solution.

“With 50TB native capacity, 2.5 times the capacity of the previous highest-capacity tape cartridges, Fujifilm believes this breakthrough demonstrates the future potential of tape technology,” said Kei Nagata, deputy general manager of the Industrial Products Division at Fujifilm.

“The IBM 3592 JF tape cartridge is yet another milestone in many years of joint research and development with IBM, and we are honored to be the manufacturer of this product.”

[via New Atlas and Data Center Dynamics, images via IBM]