Reference Guide

26 LTO Media Handbook
Cartridge Storage Conditions
• Before you use a cartridge, let it acclimate to the normal operating
environment for 24 hours.
• Ensure that all surfaces of the cartridge are dry before use.
• Do not expose the cartridge to moisture or direct sunlight.
• Always ship or store a cartridge in the vertical orientation and inside a
jewel case to prevent damage to the tape edge.
• Do not expose recorded or blank cartridges to stray magnetic fields (for
example, terminals, motors, video equipment, X-ray equipment, or fields
that exist near high-current cables or power supplies). Such exposure can
lead to loss of data or render the blank cartridge unusable.
• Maintain the environmental conditions outlined in the Table 11.
Cartridge Life
• Durability – 1,000,000 passes on any area of tape, equates to over 20,000
end-to-end passes/260 full tape backups.
• Archival life – 30 years
Table 11. Environmental Specifications for Tapes
Environmental
Factor
Operating Operational
Storage
Archival
Storage
Shipping
Temperature 10 °C to 45 °C
(50 °F to 113 °F)
16 °C to 32 °C 
(61 °F to 90 °F)
16 °C to 25 °C 
(61 °F to 77 °F)
-23 °C to 49 °C 
(-9 °F to 120 °F)
Relative humidity
(non-condensing)
10 % to 80 % 20 % to 80 % 20 % to 50 % 5 % to 80 %
Wet bulb
temperature
26 °C
(79 °F)
26 °C
(79 °F)
26 °C
(79 °F)
26 °C
(79 °F)