One thing I forgot to mention is the M format. Starting with LTO7 media used with LTO8 drives, if you label the tapes with labels ending with M7 instead of L7 t

One thing I forgot to mention is the M format. Starting with LTO7 media used with LTO8 drives, if you label the tapes with labels ending with M7 instead of L7 the drive will format the tape when first writing it in the 8M format, adding 3TB of capacity to it. Of course these media can only be read using drives of the next generation. Notice that first formatting a M9 tape can take up to 45 minutes. That can be a surprise when you first try it! Take this into account if you're time-constrained. Confusingly, LTO7 tapes with "M7"-ending barcodes are called "8M", and LTO8 with "M8"-ending barcodes are called "9M". Don't ask...