A Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) social media post boasts of the elimination of tape data storage facilities at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSE). A triumphant Tweet by DOGE says that a million dollars per year will be saved “by converting 14,000 magnetic tapes (70 yr old technology for information storage) to permanent modern digital records.” However, many X users, and a Community Notes addition, highlight that despite its apparent elderliness, tape still remains the best choice in a range of data storage scenarios.
The @USGSA IT team just saved $1M per year by converting 14,000 magnetic tapes (70 yr old technology for information storage) to permanent modern digital records.April 4, 2025
Hopefully, no official installed at DOGE or GSA assumed that because magnetic tape has been around for such a long time, it is outdated and, therefore, a prime target for replacement with new and improved storage tech. Recently, we reported that the tech behind tape storage, the Linear Tape-Open (LTO) standard, carries on with a robust development roadmap that continues to deliver higher densities.
Tape storage devices are constantly being refreshed with new interfaces, like the new Thunderbolt 5 models announced last month. Media manufacturers also enjoy continued growth driven by trendsetting AI hyperscalers, and companies like Huawei are developing entirely new storage subsystems built around tape storage. A year earlier, we reported on research that claimed tape storage remained cheaper and less polluting than HDDs or SSDs.
As with many choices in tech, be it a decision about your display, processor, or GPU, there remains a diverse choice in storage media because one size doesn’t fit all. Though we have fingernail-sized micro-SD cards that can store 1TB now and consumer SSDs that can transfer data at over 14 GB/s, older magnetic storage media like HDDs and tape remain on the menu. That’s because they still have particular strengths or a sweet spot balance of features.
Tape will live on for "decades"
In the case of the 14,000 magnetic tapes that have been consigned to history by the government, Community Notes attached to the DOGE post reference articles about why tape is still popular for backups in organizations of all sizes and will still be around for “decades to come.” In brief, tape storage remains in favor for multiple reasons, but most importantly due to the format’s huge capacity, long-term development roadmap that continues to evolve, known durability (30 years estimated), low energy consumption, TCO, and suitability for cold storage.
It would be very interesting to know what storage system and media have been selected to replace the GSA’s tape system, but we don't have these details to hand. We also wonder whether the DOGE-celebrated $1M per year change away from tape will stick.
