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## IBM Spectrum Archive software application 

The IBM Spectrum Archive software application and the underlying Linear Tape File System (LTFS) use the LTO Ultrium Generation 5 media partitioning functionality. LTFS provides a standard tape cartridge format at low cost, and it can be used without more database applications. LTFS presents tape media as though it were a file system on a disk drive. It supports only IBM LTO Ultrium 5 tape drives or higher-generation IBM LTO Ultrium tape drives. 

Tape as a storage medium has many benefits. Tape is reliable, portable, low-cost, low-power, and high-capacity. However, tape is not particularly easy to use. It has no standard format, and data often cannot be used without first copying the data to disk. 

With LTFS, accessing data that is stored on an IBM tape cartridge became as intuitive as the use of a USB flash drive. With LTFS file manager, reading data on a tape cartridge is as easy as dragging and dropping. You can run any application that is designed for disk files against tape data without concern that the data is physically stored on tape. 

LTFS, which works on IBM LTO-8, 7, 6, 5, and IBM TS1160, TS1155, TS1150, and TS1140 tape drives, implements a true file system for tape. LTFS also supports library automation, including the ability to find data on a tape in a library without mounting and searching tape volumes. 

IBM Spectrum Archive supports IBM tape automation in addition to the single drive edition. With IBM Spectrum Archive Library Edition, you can create a single file system mount point for a logical library that is managed by a single instance of the software, which is running on a single computer system. In addition, it provides for caching of tape indexes, and for searching, querying, and displaying tapes’ contents within an IBM tape library without the requirement to mount tape cartridges. 

For more information about IBM Spectrum Archive and LTFS, see 2.10, “IBM Spectrum Archive” on page 165. 

## 2.10 IBM Spectrum Archive 

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IBM Spectrum Archive, a member of the IBM Spectrum Storage™ family, enables direct, intuitive, and graphical access to data that is stored in IBM tape drives and libraries by incorporating the Linear Tape File System (LTFS) format standard for reading, writing, and exchanging descriptive metadata on formatted tape cartridges. 

IBM Spectrum Archive eliminates the need for additional tape management and software to access data. 

IBM Spectrum Archive offers three software solutions for managing your digital files with the LTFS format: Single Drive Edition (SDE), Library Edition (LE), and Enterprise Edition (EE). 

With IBM Spectrum Archive Enterprise Edition and IBM Spectrum Scale, a tape tier can now add savings as a low-cost storage tier. Network-attached unstructured data storage with native tape support by using LTFS delivers the best mix of performance and low-cost storage. 

