Symply launches world's first LTO-10 tape storage

LTO tape has been increasing in capacity since it was first introduced, and the first LTO-10 systems are now hitting the market, with new machines from Symply arriving next month.

LTO-10 is a big deal. LTO-9 was released as far back as 2021 (and that was delayed by the pandemic) and introduced a native capacity of 18 TB per cartridge and up to 45 TB compressed. LTO-10 enables a further massive increase in capacity, reaching up to 30 TB uncompressed and 75 TB compressed per cartridge. The enterprise full-height drives have a native performance of up to 400 MB/sec too, making them ideal for media and entertainment, as well as pretty much everything else. And Symply is first out of the gate.

There are going to be three models available as Symply introduces LTO-10 across its range.

• SymplyPRO Ethernet – Desktop and Rackmount standalone LTO drives with 10Gb Ethernet connectivity. 
• SymplyPRO Thunderbolt – Desktop and Rackmount standalone LTO drives with Thunderbolt & SAS connectivity. 
• SymplyPRO XTL 40 and 80 – Mid-range and Enterprise modular tape libraries featuring SAS, Fibre Channel, Ethernet, and Thunderbolt interfaces. 

“LTO-10 is a sea change in technology with a completely new design, including new head technology, and new media substrate, making it possible to store these massive capacities on a single cartridge," says Keith Warburton, CEO of Symply. 

The tech has not quite landed at the levels it was once projected to reach. According to the LTO roadmap, LTO-10 was meant to provide 36 TB native and 90 TB compressed capacities. Nevertheless, it is still a huge leap over LTO-9, offering 66% more storage in both native and compressed formats.

"We were seeing people have to use two LTO-9 tapes for a project and dailies, so now with LTO-10 they'll be able to use just the single tape at 400MB/s," says Warburton. 

It brings one other noted benefit too, which is the ability to use media straight out of the box without having to spend up to two hours optimising / characterizing each tape before use as was the case with LTO-9. A notable downside, however, is that for the first time, all backwards compatibility has been lost. LTO up to the 7th generation had the ability to write one and read two previous generations. LTO-8 and LTO-9 narrowed this down to a single generation for both. Now LTO-10 drives will only work with LTO-10 tapes.

It's also worth pointing out that the cheaper and widely used LTO half height drives are not even officially part of the LTO-10 story yet. If previous generations are anything to go by, though, they will arrive roughly six months after the initial full height releases; possibly longer this time round as the drives are such a new design. 2026 is your best bet, but exactly when is open to question.

Pricing and availability

SymplyPRO LTO-10 products will begin shipping in mid-June 2025 and are compatible with media and entertainment backup and archive software applications such as Archiware, Hedge and YoYotta. They will be initially available in standalone desktop and rackmount formats with Ethernet, SAS, and Thunderbolt interfaces. The SymplyPRO XTL 40 and 80 slot modular libraries will follow later in Q4 2025, featuring interoperability with enterprise backup and archive applications. Prices are as follows:

• SymplyPRO SAS LTO-10 from $11,995 
• SymplyPRO Ethernet LTO-10 from $15,995 
• SymplyPRO Thunderbolt LTO-10 from $12,995 
• SymplyPRO XTL 40 Library from $19,995 
• SymplyPRO XTL 80 Library from $26,995 

tl;dr

• LTO-10 offers a notable increase in capacity, providing up to 30 TB uncompressed and 75 TB compressed per cartridge, significantly surpassing LTO-9's specifications.
• Symply is introducing world's first three models of LTO-10 drives: SymplyPRO Ethernet, SymplyPRO Thunderbolt, and SymplyPRO XTL 40 and 80 modular libraries.
• LTO-10 features new head technology and media substrate, allowing immediate use without extensive pre-optimization, though it sacrifices backward compatibility, only supporting LTO-10 tapes.
• Pricing for SymplyPRO LTO-10 products starts at $11,995, with availability for standalone drives in mid-June 2025 and modular libraries following in Q4 2025.