Requirements

Canister itself doesn't have any requirements in terms of CPU and RAM, but LTFS does like ample resources. As a rough guide, any Apple Silicon Mac or recent PC with 16G memory, and a solid state system drive, will be sufficient.

Which LTO hardware does Canister support?

Canister supports a wide range of standalone LTO drives, from a variety of vendors. For most Macs, SAS-based units tend to be connected via a Thunderbolt, while PCs and Mac Pros come with the option to install a PCIe HBA directly into the host system's motherboard.

macOS

• LTO Drives

  • IBM LTO-5 to LTO-10

  • HP and Quantum LTO-5 to LTO-9

  • Tandberg drives (using HP LTFS)

• HBAs

  • Most ATTO and Areca SAS models

  • TLR support is required

  • Highpoint RocketRaid controllers are not recommended for LTO

• Thunderbolt/SAS LTO solutions by Symply, OWC, MagStor, mLogic etc

• Ethernet-based LTO solutions by Symply & MagStor (from Canister 24.1)

• USB-based LTO solutions by Unitex are not supported on Mac at this time

Windows

• LTO Drives

  • IBM LTO-5 to LTO-10

  • Quantum Rev-C LTO-7 to LTO-9

  • HP (and thus Tandberg) LTO drives are not currently supported on Windows

• HBAs

  • Most ATTO and Areca SAS models

  • Selected LSI chipsets (eg. SAS2308, onward)

    • TLR support is required

      • Highpoint RocketRaid controllers are not recommended for LTO

• Thunderbolt/SAS LTO solutions by Symply, OWC, MagStor, mLogic and more

• Ethernet-based LTO solutions by Symply & MagStor (from Canister 24.1)

• USB-based LTO solutions by Unitex

Mileage may vary with Fibre Channel-based drives. Canister does not detect which driver your FC device requires - contact your vendor for that.

Which versions of macOS, Windows and LTFS are supported?

macOS

The latest version of Canister for Mac requires macOS 12 or newer, and supports both Intel and Apple silicon.

As with all things LTO, it's essential to pair your operating system with a compatible LTFS version. The table below documents which versions of IBM LTFS are suitable for which macOS and Canister release.

macOS	Name	Supported since	Supported up to	LTFS Version
26	Tahoe	Canister 25.2	Latest release	2.4.8.2
15	Sequoia	Canister 24.2	Latest release	2.4.8.2
14	Sonoma	Canister 23.2	Latest release	2.4.8.2
13	Ventura	Canister 22.1	Latest release	2.4.8.2
12	Monterey	Canister 21.1	Latest release	2.4.8.2
11	Big Sur	Canister 20.2	Canister 25.2	2.4.5.1
10.15	Catalina	Canister 19.1	Canister 25.2	2.4.5.1
10.14	Mojave	Canister 18.1	Canister 24.1	2.4.5.1
10.13	High Sierra	Canister 18.1	Canister 24.1	2.4.5.1
10.12	Sierra	Canister 18.1	Canister 22.3	2.4.5.1

Windows

Canister for Windows supports Windows 10, onward. We do not officially test or support Windows Server, so your milage may vary.

As with all things LTO, it's essential to pair your operating system with a compatible version of LTFS. The table below documents which versions of IBM LTFS are suitable.

Windows	Supported since	Supported up to	LTFS Version
11	Canister 23.2	Latest release	2.4.8.3 onward
10	Canister 23.2	Latest release	2.4.8.3 onward