Story thread · 3 reports / 3 sources

AI data boom gives tape storage a new lease on life

networkworld.com · 10dShare

The combination of low operating costs, high capacity and offline protection makes tape storage particularly well suited to the massive storage requirements of AI workloads . Companies behind the Linear Tape-Open (LTO) storage standard say the industry shipped 160.3 exabytes of compressed tape capacity in 2025, making it the second-largest year on record despite a 9% decline from the 176.5 exabytes shipped in 2024. More significantly, tape capacity shipments surged 57% year over year during the first quarter of 2026. The LTO Program Technology Provider Companies includes Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM, and Quantum. The group says the resurgence reflects the enormous amounts of data being generated by AI systems, along with continued demand for conventional archival storage and offline backups. “We are seeing unprecedented data growth combined with increasing cost, energy, and cyber resilience pressures across the industry,” said Hugues Meyrath, CEO of Quantum in a statement. “As organ

First report: Tape still isn’t dead, but shipments slipped by 16 exabytes in 2025 — theregister.com, 13d