Yeah, LTO tape drives aren't cheap by any means. The problem with using SSD's or HDD's is that the controller is always scanning the media and repairing dropped bits by use of error correction codes written onto the media and when you store the media on the shelf you lose this capability. One installation I'm familiar with ran 3 backup sites and could cross copy lost data as needed. They were seeing a few bit drops a week that required data repair. The error correction codes used on LTO etc. are much stronger and the algorithms are also more sophisticated IIRC.
Can't emphasize enough the need to keep your media cool. Not refrigerated or frozen though) Not sure if the technology has actually been deployed since it's (quite) a "few" years since I was involved, but they were discussing a technology referred to as HAMR for Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording. As the density increases and the size of the magnetized "spots" gets smaller, the power available to force the magnetic domains to "flip" decreases, so they were looking at using a laser to heat the region just before the write head did it's thing, thus reducing the write power requirements. And if the media gets warm enough there will be bit drops - or worse as some of the magnetized regions revert to their prior unwritten state.
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