actidata ActiTape LTO External Professional Drive

A standalone external LTO tape drive: the simplest way to put a server’s or NAS’s data onto a removable, offline cartridge you can lock away or take offsite. The entry point to air-gapped tape backup.

Price on request · Talk to a Sirap engineer or call (+356) 2138 5911.

Supplied, installed and supported by Sirap, with local service and genuine LTO media in Malta.

What the actiTape external drive is for

The actiTape LTO external professional is a single LTO tape drive in a desktop enclosure that connects to a server or host over SAS and is driven by your backup software. There is no automation: you load and unload the cartridge by hand. That simplicity is the point. For a business that needs a true offline copy of its data, but does not need an autoloader’s scheduled rotation, this is the most direct route: back up to the tape, eject it, and keep it somewhere a network attack cannot reach. With LTO-9 a single cartridge holds 18 TB native (up to 45 TB compressed). It is the smallest building block in the tape range on our backup and data storage page.

Who it is for

Smaller Maltese businesses and single-server or single-NAS sites that want a genuine air-gapped backup without the cost or complexity of automation: a professional practice, a small finance firm with retention duties, a workshop or a branch. When manual loading becomes a chore, or you need an unattended rotation, step up to the 1U autoloader. It is designed for permanent use at a 100% duty cycle, so it is a working backup drive, not a light-duty accessory.

Key features

Simple, offline backup. Write to the cartridge with your backup software, eject it, store it offsite or in a safe. That removed tape is an air gap ransomware cannot cross.

Up to LTO-9. 18 TB native (up to 45 TB compressed) per cartridge, at up to 300 MB/s native, so even a single tape holds a substantial backup.

Powerful SAS interface. Connects straight to a server or host over external SAS, ready for standard backup and archive software.

Built for permanent use. Rated for a 100% duty cycle with an internal 80PLUS-certified power supply and a front on/off switch.

Works with the software you already run. Compatible with the popular backup and archive tools, including Veeam, Veritas Backup Exec, Acronis, NovaStor, Archiware, SEP and Commvault.

Technical specifications

Specifications confirmed from the actiData actiTape LTO external professional product page. Sirap confirms the LTO generation and media against your backup software and retention plan at quote.

What is in scope from Sirap

For the actiTape the value is making sure a simple device becomes a backup you can actually rely on. We confirm the drive works with your backup software, set up the backup job and a sensible cartridge rotation, advise on safe offsite storage so the air gap is real rather than a tape left next to the server, and supply genuine LTO media locally. Supported from Malta, and we will tell you honestly when an autoloader would save you enough manual handling to be worth the step up.

Often paired with

• Synology or other disk as the fast primary backup, with the actiTape providing the offline, removable copy.
• An Eaton UPS so a backup job is never cut by a power event.
• The 1U autoloader when manual loading becomes a chore or you need an unattended rotation.

Could this be grant-funded?

Even a modest backup and continuity investment can fit Malta Enterprise schemes such as Digitalise Your SME, if you apply before committing to the purchase. Read our guide and see if your project qualifies, or talk to a Sirap engineer.

Frequently asked questions

Why use tape for a single server when I could use an external hard drive?
A tape, once written and ejected, is completely offline and has a decades-long archival shelf life; an external drive left connected is still reachable by ransomware, and its lifespan on a shelf is shorter. For a genuine air-gapped, long-life copy, LTO is the stronger choice.

Do I need special software?
You drive it with standard backup software, and it works with the common tools (Veeam, Veritas, Acronis and others). If you already run one of these, the actiTape slots in; we confirm compatibility at quote.

When should I move up to an autoloader?
When loading and changing cartridges by hand becomes a daily chore, or when you want backups to run unattended across a rotation. At that point the 8-slot 1U autoloader is the logical step, and we will tell you when you have reached it.

Talk to a Sirap engineer

Tell us what you need to back up and the software you run, and we will confirm the drive, set up the backup and support it from Malta.

Request a quote · Price on request