As part of ArtAV's ongoing commitment to preserving Video Art we have invested in an LTO Tape Archive machine.
Linear Tape-Open (LTO) is a magnetic tape data storage technology originally developed in the late 1990s. Since then it has consistantly been the choice for archiving digital data. With options on tape data size and a life span of up-to 30 years, an LTO tape is an improved method for archiving masters of works rather than Hard Drives or tape stock.
Digital data storage on HDD can be a risky method of archive as the moving parts of a HDD can become stuck over a time if not used. HDD's are no use for long term offline storage. LTO tapes are read by a LTO tape deck thus the moving parts are not part of the storage device so can be maintained with compromising the integrity of the tape.
Our machine room process can take data from nearly any type of storage device from original tape stock such as Digi-Beta through to Checksum data copies from a HDD. We can also make any corrections to incorrectly digitised work and can review and restore images taken from Tape Stock. See our Tape Stock Digitising page for more information.
If you want your work stored safely and given the best possible chance of being read in years to come LTO is the choice.
A Quantum Superloader LTO tape deck is used to read and write to the tapes.
An LTO-M8 tape can store upto 9TB of digital data and is small enough to fit in your pocket, 102 × 105 × 21.5 mm