--- title: "Firevault vs LTO-9 Tape Storage | Offline Without Rotation" url: https://fire-vault.com/compare/firevault-vs-lto-9-tape description: "Compare Firevault Offline Secure Storage with LTO-9 tape on recovery speed, chain of custody, capital cost and audit evidence. A UK alternative to LTO-9." lang: en-GB --- Why OSS # Firevault vs LTO-9 Tape Storage LTO-9 gives you a real air gap once the cartridge leaves the library. Firevault keeps the same physical disconnection and removes the drives, the rotation, the offsite retrieval and the manual chain of custody. Image: Corridor of offline storage racks inside a Firevault bunker (https://fire-vault.com/assets/hero-square-bunker-B6Y7Qt9r.jpg) vs Head To Head ## Both Are Offline. One Needs No Library. The choice is not air gap or no air gap. It is how that air gap is operated, audited and restored from. 01 18TB native per cartridge, ejected for air gap ### LTO-9 Tape LTO-9 holds 18TB native (45TB compressed) per cartridge at up to 400MB/s native. Once ejected and stored offsite it is a genuine physical air gap. The trade-offs are drives, libraries, rotation, media handling and sequential restore. - Real air gap when ejected - Low cost per terabyte at scale - Manual handling and rotation 02 Layer 1 disconnect, scheduled access ### Firevault Offline Secure Storage® Firevault holds the gold copy on dedicated hardware in carefully selected bunkers in the customer's chosen jurisdiction, physically disconnected at OSI Layer 1. Access is a scheduled, identity-verified connection window, with every event logged. - Layer 1 physical disconnect - No drives or libraries to buy - Tamper-evident audit trail Four Dimensions ## Where the Choice Actually Bites Recovery speed, custody, capital and evidence. The places the difference shows in a real incident. 01 Retrieval and sequential read vs connection window ### Recovery Speed An LTO-9 restore depends on retrieving cartridges from offsite, loading them and reading sequentially. Firevault restores run inside a scheduled connection window over a high-speed link, with no media transport in the critical path. - No offsite retrieval delay - Random access to files - Predictable restore time 02 People and vans vs documented bunker custody ### Chain of Custody Tape custody depends on the people who eject, transport and file cartridges. Firevault custody is documented inside the bunker, with switching controlled from a separate management plane that does not share the data path. - No cartridge handling - Out-of-band switching - Documented custody 03 Drives, library and generation migration vs subscription ### Capital and Refresh LTO-9 needs drives, a library or autoloader, media, cleaning and a plan for the next generation migration. Firevault is a monthly subscription with hardware refresh and verification handled by Firevault. - No drives or library - No generation migration - Refresh handled by Firevault 04 Movement logs vs per-event evidence ### Audit and Evidence Tape audit relies on backup software logs and physical movement records. Firevault produces a tamper-evident log of every connection, disconnection, identity check and restore, ready for NCSC-aligned reviews, insurers and boards. - Per-event log - Identity captured at access - Insurer and board ready Firevault vs Quantum tape: https://fire-vault.com/compare/firevault-vs-quantum-tape Firevault vs AWS Glacier: https://fire-vault.com/compare/firevault-vs-aws-glacier NCSC offline backup mapping: https://fire-vault.com/compliance/ncsc-ransomware-resistant-backups Questions ## Firevault vs LTO-9 Tape, Common Questions Straight answers on how Offline Secure Storage® behaves in practice. ### Is LTO-9 tape still a good offline backup? ### What is the best alternative to LTO-9 tape storage in the UK? ### How much can Firevault hold compared with an LTO-9 cartridge? ### Can I run LTO-9 and Firevault together? ### Does Firevault use tape? Image: Mark Fermor (https://fire-vault.com/assets/mark-fermor-aWtKNSv7.jpg) Image: David Bailey (https://fire-vault.com/assets/david-bailey-Dgqj8eaE.jpg) Image: Kenny Phipps (https://fire-vault.com/assets/kenny-phipps-Dy-CtCjw.jpg) Online Now Get started ## Keep the air gap, drop the library Talk to Firevault about replacing or complementing LTO-9 with a Layer 1 offline copy. From £360 a month including VAT. 36-month commitment. First payment at checkout. From £360/mo VAT included 36-month plan ## Structured data ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://fire-vault.com/compare/firevault-vs-lto-9-tape#webpage", "url": "https://fire-vault.com/compare/firevault-vs-lto-9-tape", "name": "Firevault vs LTO-9 Tape Storage", "description": "Compare Firevault Offline Secure Storage with LTO-9 tape on recovery speed, chain of custody, capital cost and audit evidence. 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