Hiberden
What is Hiberden?
Hiberden is archive software for creating, verifying, cataloging, and restoring long-term file copies across LTO tape, network-attached storage (NAS), local disk, and S3-compatible cloud storage. It writes each archive to the destinations defined in a policy, records every copy in a local catalog, and verifies each copy by reading it back and comparing it with a SHA-256 checksum.
Key Capabilities
- Verified archive copies: Hiberden reads each completed copy back from tape, disk, NAS, or cloud storage. A copy is marked as verified only when its contents match the archive checksum.
- Unified archive catalog: Tracks files and copies across all destinations in one catalog, allowing users to locate and restore files without knowing the cartridge, share, or cloud bucket that contains them.
- 3-2-1 policy tracking: Groups work into Collections and Archives, then displays coverage states such as Covered, At risk, and Files missing based on whether policy-required copies have passed verification.
- LTO archive management: Handles Linear Tape File System (LTFS) formatting, mounting, writing, multi-cartridge archives, verification, and restore operations.
- Open-format recovery: Uses standard LTFS tapes and ordinary files on disk and cloud destinations, enabling recovery without dependence on a proprietary storage format.
- Model Context Protocol connector: Includes an optional MCP connector through which a supported AI assistant can query the archive catalog. Read-only access is the default, and permissions are controlled in Hiberden.
Audience & Use Cases
- Audience: Media and post-production teams, photographers, research groups, engineering teams, museums, small archives, and organizations with long-term retention requirements.
- Use Case: Provides verified, multi-destination archival storage for projects, footage, research data, model checkpoints, records, and other files that are costly or impossible to recreate.
Technical Specifications
- Storage targets: LTO tape, local disk, mounted SMB or NFS NAS shares, and S3-compatible object storage.
- Operating systems: Windows 10 and 11, supported Linux distributions, and Apple Silicon macOS.
- Deployment model: Locally installed software with no hosted Hiberden storage service or required server component.
- Offline operation: Supports air-gapped archive machines and file-based licensing.
- Licensing: The vendor lists a 30-day full-feature trial and a perpetual license priced at US$299, with no per-terabyte charge.
Categories & Use Cases
Media
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Screenshot of Save dialog


