IBM's entry-level 1U tape autoloader, holding nine cartridges and up to 405 TB of compressed capacity with an LTO 9 drive.
- Status
- Current, active IBM/Lenovo product
- Form Factor
- 1U, rack-mount or deskside
- Cartridge Slots
- 9 cartridges, single drive
- Drive Options
- Half-height LTO Ultrium 9 (12 Gbps SAS), LTO 8, LTO 7, or LTO 6 (6 Gbps SAS)
- Native Capacity
- Up to 162 TB native with LTO 9 (up to 405 TB at 2.5:1 compression)
- Transfer Rate
- Up to 300 MBps native
- Typical Fit
- Smallest AS400/IBM i environments, branch offices, or a secondary/offsite rotation unit
The TS2900 is IBM's smallest tape product, a single-drive 1U autoloader holding nine cartridges rather than a full library. It is the right-sized option for the smallest AS400/IBM i environments, for a branch office that needs local tape without a full library footprint, or as a second unit for offsite tape rotation alongside a larger library at the primary site.
With an LTO 9 drive it holds up to 162 TB native (roughly 405 TB at typical 2.5:1 compression) across its nine slots, enough for weeks of daily incrementals plus a weekly full save on most small-to-mid IBM i workloads before cartridges need rotating out. Drive options step down through LTO 8, 7, and 6 for shops standardizing on an older generation already in use elsewhere, though see the LTO Generation Guide before matching autoloader drive generation to existing tape stock.
Shops that outgrow nine slots or need more than one drive move up to the TS4300, which scales in the same modular family but starts at 40 slots per module.