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133 questions · 234 answers · 193 comments · 172 tags · 118 contributors · archived August 2026
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What encryption would you using for LTO tape for long-term storage or transport, why?

1
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there are different options for encrypting at the drive, fabric, server side for encrypting data for placement on LTO tape. but what are the considerations for long term preservation use cases. And for interoperation if sending between instituations - long term keys (loss or lockin) etc.

2 answers

1
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In the cultural heritage community, using encryption on long-term tape storage is not always popular.

Encryption restricts access and without proper maintainance of the encryption keys the data becomes inaccessable. Encryption can limit interoperability between instituions as well as between systems within a single organization if it is not managed well.

Further, encryption can increase the size of your files which then require more storage space.
0
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A more general version of this question was answered on the previous stake exchange digital preservation question and answer site. It is archived here.