Detailed Specifications
HP C7973A - LTO-3 Ultrium Tape Cartridge
Overview :
The HP C7973A is an LTO-3 Ultrium rewindable (RW) data tape cartridge, designed for IT professionals managing backup, archival and data retention environments. It offers 400 GB of native storage capacity and up to 800 GB when using 2:1 compression, enabling medium-scale data archives at a lower cost per gigabyte. The cartridge is suitable for deployment in enterprise tape drives and libraries within data centres, small-to-medium business backup servers or branch office archives. It integrates with supported LTO-3 drives and is backward read/write compatible in certain later generation drives, making it a pragmatic choice for environments migrating between tape drive generations while maintaining interoperability.
Key Features :
400 GB native / 800 GB compressed capacity
Native transfer rate: 80 MB/s (typical)
Compatible with LTO-3 drives and read-in later generations
Archival storage rated for up to approximately 30 years
Metal Particle (MP) media formulation for reliability
Specifications :
| Specification | Value |
|---|
| Brand | HP |
| Part Number | C7973A |
| Product Type | LTO-3 Ultrium RW Data Cartridge |
| Native Capacity | 400 GB |
| Compressed Capacity | 800 GB (assumes 2:1 compression) |
| Native Data Rate | 80 MB/s |
| Compressed Data Rate | Up to 160 MB/s |
| Tape Length | ≈ 680 m |
| Media Type | Metal Particle (MP) |
| Archival Life | Up to 30 years (typical) |
| Drive Compatibility | Write/read in LTO-3; read in some LTO-4/5 |
| Temperature (oper) | 10-45 °C (operational) |
| Temperature (store) | 16-35 °C (short-term) |
| Humidity (oper) | 10-80% RH |
| Load/Unload Cycles | ~20,000 (typical) |
