Data cartridges

The generations of IBM® Ultrium™ data cartridges are identified by color.

Table 1. Cartridge types and colors
Type	Color
Ultrium 10	Black
Ultrium 10 WORM	Black
Ultrium 9	Teal
Ultrium 9 WORM	Teal and Silvery gray
Ultrium 8	Burgundy
Ultrium 8 WORM	Burgundy and Silvery gray
LTO M8	Purple
Ultrium 7	Purple
Ultrium 7 WORM	Purple and Silvery gray
Ultrium 6	Black
Ultrium 6 WORM	Black and Silvery gray

All generations contain 1/2-inch, dual-coat, magnetic tape.

You can order tape cartridges with the bar code labels included, or you can order custom labels.

When tape is processed in the cartridges, Ultrium tape drives use a linear, serpentine recording format. The native data capacity and recording format of Ultrium data cartridges is as follows:

Table 2. Cartridge data capacity and recording formats
Type	Native Data Capacity	Recording Format
Ultrium 10	40 TB (100 TB at 2.5:1 compression)	Reads and writes data on 15104 tracks, 32 tracks at a time.
Ultrium 10	30 TB (75 TB at 2.5:1 compression)	Reads and writes data on 15104 tracks, 32 tracks at a time.
Ultrium 9	18 TB (45 TB at 2.5:1 compression)	Reads and writes data on 8960 tracks, 32 tracks at a time.
Ultrium 8	12 TB (30 TB at 2.5:1 compression)	Reads and writes data on 6656 tracks, 32 tracks at a time.
LTO M8	9 TB (22.5 TB at 2.5:1 compression)^*	Reads and writes data on 3584 tracks, 32 tracks at a time.
Ultrium 7	6 TB (15 TB at 2.5:1 compression)	Reads and writes data on 3584 tracks, 32 tracks at a time.
Ultrium 6	2.5 TB (6.25 TB at 2.5:1 compression)	Reads and writes data on 2176 tracks, 16 tracks at a time.
^*In any tape product with M8 cartridges, the minimum LTO8 tape drive firmware version is HB82.

The first set of tracks is written from near the beginning of the tape almost to the end of the tape. The head then repositions to the next set of tracks for the return pass. This process continues until all tracks are written and the cartridge is full, or until all data is written.

The cartridge door (2 in Figure 1) protects the tape from contamination when the cartridge is out of the drive. The tape is attached to a leader pin (3 in Figure 1) behind the door. When the cartridge is inserted into the drive, a threading mechanism pulls the pin (and tape) out of the cartridge, across the drive head, and onto a non-removable take-up reel. The head can then read or write data from or to the tape.

The write-protect switch (4 in Figure 1) prevents data from being written to the tape cartridge. For more information, see Write-Protect switch.

The label area (5 in Figure 1) provides a location to place a label. For more information, see Bar code label.

The insertion guide (6 in Figure 1) is a large, notched area that prevents the cartridge from being inserted incorrectly.

Table 3. Nominal cartridge life: Load/unload cycles
Type	Load/Unload Cycles
Ultrium 10	20,000 (20k)
Ultrium 9	20,000 (20k)
Ultrium 8	20,000 (20k)
LTO M8	20,000 (20k)
Ultrium 7	20,000 (20k)
Ultrium 6	20,000 (20k)