Advancements in the manufacturing techniques of sub-micron and micron scale IC allowed manufacturing more number of transistors on silicon's each square inch. Extensive research was also done in the optical and magnetic storage. The digital 0s and 1s are stored by the metal particles. As the time passed, the size of the metal particles got smaller and smaller and then it was reduced to nanosecond. This development enabled to store more & more bits on storage media's each square inch. Areal density also known as ?bit density? is the key element the fuels the development in Information Technology.



Data tape recording has many necessary parameters but two of the most important magnetic properties are the retentivity and coercivity. Ratio of carrier to noise is controlled by retentivity that helps to reliably read the digital 0s and 1s. Areal density is governed by coercivity that increase the per area recording capacity of the data tape. The tape's magnetic energy is the product of these two numbers. The most important advantage of the areal density is that it increases the recording capacity. High recording density results in higher efficiency and output as during file transfer less tape reel moves past the tape heads.

LTO tape format has all the powerful features that provide reliable backup solutions. LTO tape cartridge can hold more data volume because of its high recording density, so the time consumed to change the tape cartridge is also reduced. Data restoration in LTO ultrium tape format is very fast. Data restoration process is speeded up by the faster access and restoring technology of LTO ultrium. Therefore the organizations can save lots of money by help of the fast restoration technology of LTO tape format. The tape length of LTO-3 tape cartridge is 680 meters and that of the LTO-4 is 820 meters. The cartridge size of LTO4 is not increased. That is why the tape reel was made thinner (6.6 micrometers) in LTO-4 tape cartridge from 8.0 micrometers used in the LTO 3 tape cartridge.

So the base film of the LTO-4 needed to be stronger and tougher as the LTO4 tape drives had small write/read heads. Sony used the hybrid base film of polymer alloy to solve this problem. Lateral strength of the Sony LTO-4 tape is increased by 45 percent and the dimensional changes are reduced by 60 percent by the use of polymer alloy film. There may be some leftover gaps between the tape reel and tape head that can lead to errors and degraded performance. If the base film is weak then there are more chances of spacing gaps. Base film of polymer alloy in Sony LTO4 tape prevents the spacing gaps to upgrade the output and performance of LTO4 tape technology. Servo track in the Sony LTO4 data tape is ultra precise.

As data tracks used in LTO-4 are 896 in comparison to the LTO-3 data tracks of 704, therefore it is very important that the recorded tracks and the playback/record tape head should be properly aligned. On the tape media, the tracks are pre written which is the manufacturing procedure's part. Vast and enormous experience in media and hardware manufacturing helped Sony in development of servo-track recording technology. In this technology the small servo-tracks are maintained to tolerance width of 0.14 percent. This technology in Sony LTO 4 tape allows remarkable accuracy in both reading & writing.

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