3 ms·

I know Amazon prices aren't exactly perfect for enterprise storage costs, but they imply tape is at least 4x cheaper (assuming you are using enough to amortize

I know Amazon prices aren't exactly perfect for enterprise storage costs, but they imply tape is at least 4x cheaper (assuming you are using enough to amortize the cost of the tape drive): 6.25TB tape is $28 : https://www.amazon.com/HP-HEWC7976A-Ultrium-6-25TB-Cartridge/dp/B00AHQUV3S https://www.amazon.com/HP-HEWC7976A-Ultrium-6-25TB-Cartridge... 6TB HDD is $120 : https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expansion-Desktop-External-STEB6000403/dp/B07CX8QBG4 https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expansion-Desktop-External-ST... EDIT: Commenter below points out this 6.25TB tape is actualy 2.5TB physical -- still cheaper, in terms of $/GB, but not the 4x I mention above -- closer to 2x.

teraflop 8y ago
That's an apples-to-oranges comparison. The "6.25TB" number for LTO tapes is assuming a fairly arbitrary 2.5:1 lossless compression ratio. The actual data capacity of the tape is only 2.5TB.
- gamegoblin 8y ago
  You're right. Though, that's still 2x cheaper in terms of $/GB.
klodolph 8y ago
You've got the wrong info, LTO-7 is 6TB and $67: https://www.amazon.com/Fuji-Ultrium-7-Data-Cartridge-16456574/dp/B019DGCRAW https://www.amazon.com/Fuji-Ultrium-7-Data-Cartridge-1645657... LTO-6 (what you linked) is not 6.25TB, it’s 2.5TB, despite what Amazon says. Then add the operational costs, which is the hard part, because the operational costs for a tape are very different from the operational costs for a hard disk.