Not knowledgeable either, but one difference is durability. LTO is rated 15-30 years while the video notes the blu-ray discs FB uses are "certified for 50 years of operation" and some go up to 1,000(!).
Any media is as durable as the availability of media reader. I seriously doubt, in 15-20 or 50 years, you will have the media reader available to read either of the media, whether tape or BD.
How many 8" or 5.25" floppy disk drives are around today and usable with current server hardware? Anyone who is considering cold storage on media for more than 10 years lifespan is fooling themselves.
A few years ago I had a customer who had to perform data migration from DLT to LTO-3. That was over 24 month project and customer begging the vendor to provide a few old DLT drives to read. On top of that the provided DLT drives were so finicky communicating with modern server hardware that they barely kept up for a few hours before going offline.
> I seriously doubt, in 15-20 or 50 years, you will have the media reader available to read either of the media, whether tape or BD.
Today's Blu-Ray drives are perfectly capable of playing an audio CD from the 1980s, and compatible players probably will continue to be available for another 10-20 years even after everyone stops buying content on physical media.
I wouldn't be surprised if I can plug in my USB 3.0 CD/DVD/Blu-Ray combo drive into a USB 7.5 port in 2030 and use it to play an audio CD from 1980, provided that the disc is in good condition. That's a lifespan of 50 years!
Even in the digital age, well-designed and highly forwards-compatible forms of physical media can last a long time.
15 years isn't that long of a time. I have CDs from much earlier than 1999 for sure, and the media reader is sitting right in my living room. And I'm not even running a data center.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_Tape_Open#Tape_durabilit...