StorageTek™ has announced support; in all current and future StorageTek L Series tape libraries, for the Linear Tape Open (LTO) Ultrium tape drive technology. StorageTek is the leader in verifying the cross-compatibility of Ultrium drives and media.
 

StorageTek is supporting these new technologies to further our market leadership in tape and tape automation. On the L700 and L180 tape libraries, adaptive media technology supports up to twelve StorageTek 9840/9940 tape drives, or twenty DLT or LTO Ultrium tape drives. Any of these drives can be mixed in different combinations. As StorageTek releases the Ultrium technology to its customers, customer value of the L Series tape libraries will increase as a result of having more types of drives available.
 

LTO is an "open format" technology, which means that users will have multiple sources of product and media. The "open" nature of LTO technology also provides a means of enabling compatibility between different vendors' offerings. LTO Ultrium: