316196601 • Revision: A Chapter 1 Introduction 5
Specifications
Compatibility
HP LTO Ultrium 4 drives are specified to interchange with un-encrypted data
cartridges from other tape drives that comply to the LTO U-28, U-316 and U-416
specifications:
Future compatibility:
In the future, HP LTO Ultrium drives will be capable of:
■ Reading and writing tapes from the current generation
■ Reading and writing tapes from one earlier generation
■ Reading tapes from two earlier generations
HP LTO Ultrium drives will always maintain write and read compatibility with
other manufacturers’ LTO Ultrium drives and tapes that meet the LTO Ultrium
format specification.
Note – Currently, only LTO4 media is encryption-capable on the LTO4 tape drives.
While LTO4 can read and “write” to LTO3 media, if an LTO4 drive encrypted data
on LTO3 media, then LTO3 drives could not read those tapes. Therefore, when
LTO3 media is inserted into an LTO4 drive, the encryption capability is disabled
and the drive will write non-encrypted data without notification.
TABLE 1-4 LTO Media Compatibility
Native Capacity (Length) Format
Capability
Write Read
800 GB WORM LTO4 Yes Yes
800 GB (820m) LTO4 Yes Yes
400 GB WORM LTO3 Yes Yes
400 GB (680m) LTO3 Yes Yes
200 GB (580m) LTO2 No Yes
100 GB (580m) LTO1 No No
50 GB (290m) LTO1 No No