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Rhea-AI Summary

Quantum Corporation (NASDAQ: QMCO) has announced support for LTO-10 tape drives across its Scalar tape library systems. The new LTO-10 technology offers 30 TB native capacity per cartridge (up to 75 TB compressed) and transfer speeds of 400 MB/s per drive.

The company's Scalar i7 RAPTOR system can now deliver up to 60 PB storage in a single rack, providing 70% lower operational costs through reduced floor space, power, and cooling requirements. The solution integrates with Quantum's StorNext, ActiveScale, and DXi platforms, offering enhanced security features like Ransom Block and Active Vault for ransomware protection.

Positive

• LTO-10 offers massive storage capacity of 30 TB per cartridge (75 TB compressed)
• Scalar i7 RAPTOR delivers industry-leading 60 PB storage density per rack
• 70% reduction in operational costs through space, power, and cooling savings
• Enhanced security features for ransomware protection

Negative

• None.

Insights

Enterprise Storage Technology Analyst

Quantum's LTO-10 tape drive integration significantly boosts storage density and security while reducing costs—highly valuable for AI and archival applications.

Quantum's integration of LTO-10 tape technology into its Scalar library systems represents a substantial technological advancement in the enterprise storage market. With native capacity jumping to 30TB per cartridge (up to 75TB compressed), this delivers exceptional storage economics for long-term data retention—particularly critical as organizations grapple with explosive data growth from AI initiatives.

The density metrics are particularly impressive: up to 60PB in a single rack with the Scalar i7 RAPTOR system, which reportedly offers 3x the density of competing solutions. This translates to approximately 70% lower operational costs through reduced floor space, power, and cooling requirements—a significant consideration for data centers approaching capacity limits.

What makes this announcement strategically valuable is Quantum's ecosystem integration. By incorporating LTO-10 across their product portfolio—including ActiveScale object storage, StorNext file systems, and DXi backup appliances—Quantum is positioning itself as a comprehensive provider for tiered storage architectures spanning from high-performance computing to cold storage archiving.

The security features are particularly relevant in today's threat landscape, with Quantum's proprietary Ransom Block, Tape Blocking, and Active Vault technologies providing true air-gapped protection—a critical defense mechanism against ransomware that network-connected storage solutions cannot match.

With 32Gb Fibre Channel and 12Gb SAS interfaces delivering up to 400MB/s per drive, plus extended connectivity options (up to 100 meters), Quantum is addressing both performance and deployment flexibility needs while maintaining tape's fundamental cost advantages for cold data storage.

With support for the latest LTO standard, Quantum’s backup, archive, and object storage platforms offer unmatched density and efficiency, ideal for AI, compliance, and long-term data growth

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Quantum^® Corporation (NASDAQ: QMCO), today announced support for LTO^® Ultrium^® format generation 10 full-height tape drives in its Scalar tape libraries, including industry-leading Scalar^® i7 RAPTOR, Scalar i6, and Scalar i6000 systems. This latest advancement strengthens Quantum’s leadership in delivering high-density, secure, and cost-effective archival storage solutions. By combining the massive native capacity of 30 TB per LTO-10 cartridge (up to 75 TB compressed at 2.5:1) with Quantum’s advanced tape automation and intelligent management software, customers gain the highest storage density, lowest total cost of ownership, and strongest cyber protection—ideal for long-term archiving in an era where preserving every bit of data is essential to staying competitive.

Quantum, along with IBM^® and HPE^®, is a long-standing member of the LTO Consortium, the group of companies that directs development and manages licensing and certification of LTO. LTO-10 serves as a core enabling technology across Quantum’s end-to-end solutions, powering integrated cold storage tiers ActiveScale^® object storage, extending automated archival tiers in StorNext^® file system, and enhancing long-term backup retention DXi^® data protection appliances. These deep integrations unlock the highest levels of seamless, scalable storage, from high-performance workflows to ultra-durable, AI-ready archives.

In anticipation of the new standard, Quantum designed the new Scalar i7 RAPTOR to deliver the highest storage density of any tape library on the market—up to 60 PB (LTO-10 native) in a single rack, and more than 3x the density of competing systems today. This translates to 70% lower operational costs through significant floor space, power, and cooling savings. Combined with Quantum's exclusive security features like Ransom Block, Tape Blocking, and Active Vault, the Scalar platform delivers true air-gapped protection to defend against ransomware and cyber threats.

“The introduction of LTO-10 marks a major leap forward in tape technology,” said Fred Moore, president, Horison Information Strategies. “Its capacity, performance, and architectural improvements make it the most compelling choice for petabyte-scale, long-term data retention—especially in today’s AI-driven, video-rich, and compliance-heavy environments. The combination of LTO-10 and Quantum’s tape-integrated solutions offers exactly the kind of high-capacity, low-cost solution customers need to solve the challenge of storing data indefinitely.”

“Scalar i7 RAPTOR integrates seamlessly with Quantum StorNext NAS and SAN file workflows, ActiveScale object storage, and DXi deduplicated backup to deliver scalable, efficient cold storage across the data lifecycle,” said Bruno Hald, vice president and general manager of secondary storage at Quantum. “When paired with Scalar i7 RAPTOR, our S3-compliant ActiveScale solution becomes a powerful on-prem Glacier-class archive—now supporting LTO-10 and delivering up to 60 PB per frame and up to 70% lower cost for long-term data retention at exabyte scale.”

The new LTO-10 drives feature multiple interface options, including 32 Gb Fibre Channel and 12 Gb SAS, delivering up to 400 MB/s per drive. The LTO-10 SAS drives also support active optical connectivity, expanding cable distances from 10 to 100 meters, providing increased deployment flexibility. Unlike previous generations, LTO-10 requires no media calibration, streamlining operations and improving efficiency.

Quantum is currently accepting orders for LTO-10-based solutions including Scalar i7 Raptor, Scalar i6, Scalar i6000, and within ActiveScale object storage, and expects shipments to begin later this quarter. For more information on LTO-10 drives, visit www.quantum.com/lto-10. For more information on Quantum’s data lifecycle management solutions to propel, protect and preserve every bit of data, visit www.quantum.com

Quantum, the Quantum logo, Scalar, and ActiveScale are registered trademarks of Quantum Corporation and its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries.

LTO and Ultrium are registered trademarks of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM, and Quantum Corporation.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information provided in this press release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act"). These forward-looking statements are largely based on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends affecting our business. Such forward-looking statements include, in particular, statements about the anticipated benefits and features of LTO-10, and Quantum’s Scalar, ActiveScale, StorNext, and DXi solutions as well as our business prospects, changes and trends in our business and the markets in which we operate.

These forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "anticipates", "believes", "can", "could", "estimates", "expects", "forecasts", "intends", "may", "plans", "projects", "targets", "will", and similar expressions or variations of these terms and similar phrases. Additionally, statements concerning future matters and other statements regarding matters that are not historical are forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements relate to future events or our future performance and are subject to business, economic, and other risks, and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including without limitation, the following: the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, including potential disruptions to our supply chain, employees, operations, sales and overall market conditions; the competitive pressures we face; risks associated with executing our strategy; the distribution of our products and the delivery of our services effectively; the development and transition of new products and services and the enhancement of existing products and services to meet customer needs and respond to emerging technological trends; whether the market for LTO-10 , and Quantum’s Scalar, ActiveScale, StorNext, and DXi solutions develops as anticipated and whether our products meet the developing needs of this market; and other risks that are described herein, including but not limited to the items discussed in "Risk Factors" in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and any subsequent filings with the SEC. We do not intend to update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law or regulation.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250529617070/en/

Media Contact:

Sara Beth Fahey

Matter Communications

quantum@matternow.com

401.351.9507

Source: Quantum Corporation

FAQ

What is the storage capacity of Quantum's new LTO-10 tape drives?

The LTO-10 tape drives offer 30 TB native capacity per cartridge, expandable up to 75 TB with 2.5:1 compression.

How much storage can Quantum's Scalar i7 RAPTOR system provide with LTO-10?

The Scalar i7 RAPTOR system can deliver up to 60 PB of storage in a single rack, offering 3x higher density than competing systems.

What are the performance specifications of Quantum's LTO-10 drives?

The LTO-10 drives deliver up to 400 MB/s per drive and support both 32 Gb Fibre Channel and 12 Gb SAS interfaces, with active optical connectivity extending cable distances to 100 meters.

How does LTO-10 integration benefit Quantum's existing storage solutions?

LTO-10 integration enhances Quantum's ActiveScale object storage, StorNext file system, and DXi data protection appliances, providing seamless scalable storage from high-performance workflows to ultra-durable, AI-ready archives.

What cost savings does Quantum's new LTO-10 solution provide?

The solution delivers 70% lower operational costs through significant reductions in floor space, power consumption, and cooling requirements.