--- title: Why AI data centers run on VCR tape | daily.dev description: Modern AI data centers are increasingly relying on LTO magnetic tape technology for cold storage of massive training datasets. LTO10 cartridges, which began... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/why-ai-data-centers-run-on-vcr-tape-qobh41rpu twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Why AI data centers run on VCR tape | daily.dev og:description: Modern AI data centers are increasingly relying on LTO magnetic tape technology for cold storage of massive training datasets. LTO10 cartridges, which began... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/why-ai-data-centers-run-on-vcr-tape-qobh41rpu og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/qoBH41rpU.png og:image:alt: Why AI data centers run on VCR tape og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Why AI data centers run on VCR tape **[Slidebean](https://daily.dev/sources/slidebean)** · 1 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Modern AI data centers are increasingly relying on LTO magnetic tape technology for cold storage of massive training datasets. LTO10 cartridges, which began shipping in early 2026, hold up to 40TB each and consume zero electricity when idle, making them far more cost-effective and energy-efficient than hard drives or SSDs for storing petabytes of AI training data. Despite being based on the same physical mechanism as VHS tapes, this technology is quietly underpinning the $2.5 trillion AI industry. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [With Affordable Storage Options Dwindling, Where To Store Our Data?](https://daily.dev/posts/with-affordable-storage-options-dwindling-where-to-store-our-data--mhkd6gosc) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [AI Data Centers Study High-Temperature Superconductors](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-data-centers-study-high-temperature-superconductors-jbbqj45d9) · IEEE Spectrum · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Modular data centers for sustainable and efficient AI](https://daily.dev/posts/modular-data-centers-for-sustainable-and-efficient-ai-lrg6vq1gx) · Data Science Central · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai-infrastructure](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-infrastructure) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/why-ai-data-centers-run-on-vcr-tape-qobh41rpu) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Why AI data centers run on VCR tape","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/why-ai-data-centers-run-on-vcr-tape-qobh41rpu","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/why-ai-data-centers-run-on-vcr-tape-qobh41rpu"},"datePublished":"2026-04-17T18:17:02.908Z","dateModified":"2026-04-17T18:17:22.489Z","description":"Modern AI data centers are increasingly relying on LTO magnetic tape technology for cold storage of massive training datasets. 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