Tape drive with intelligent selection of wrap / track for temporarily storing flushed data
First Claim
1. A computer program product comprising:
- a tape drive system including;
a buffer memory,tape drive control logic,a tape recording head for writing to-be-written data,an elongated tape medium defining a transverse direction, with the tape medium being organized into a plurality of writing tracks adapted to have recorded thereon to-be-written data as written data,a machine readable storage device, andcomputer code stored on the machine readable storage device, with the computer code including instructions for causing a processor(s) set to perform operations including the following;
receiving, by a buffer memory, a stream of to-be-written data,receiving, by the tape drive control logic, an identity of a first writing track of the plurality of writing tracks, with the first writing track being a track where to-be-written data is currently being permanently written as written data from the buffer memory to the tape medium by the tape recording head,receiving, by the tape drive control logic, flush indication data indicating that a flush of the buffer memory needs to be performed,responsive to the receipt of the buffer flush indication data, determining a second writing track of the plurality of writing tracks, with the second writing track being a writing track to be used in flushing to-be-written data from the buffer memory, and with the determination of the second writing being based, at least in part, upon a relative transverse direction proximity between the first writing track and the second writing track, andflushing at least a portion of the buffer memory by writing to-be-written data from the buffer memory as temporary written data to the second writing track.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A tape drive that can select one or more wraps from any available wraps on a tape medium for writing temporary data upon detecting a flush condition. The one or more wraps selected for writing temporary data can be selected from wraps otherwise reserved for normal writing operations. Selection of the one or more wraps for temporary writing may be based on multiple considerations, including proximity to the wrap of current data writing operations and tape medium degradation. The one or more wraps selected for writing temporary data may be selected with or without regard of their assigned read/write direction. Assigning wraps based on proximity and/or degradation can lead to certain operational advantages including reducing tape write head movement in the transverse direction and spreading tape medium wear more evenly across the surface of the tape medium.
10 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer program product comprising:
a tape drive system including; a buffer memory, tape drive control logic, a tape recording head for writing to-be-written data, an elongated tape medium defining a transverse direction, with the tape medium being organized into a plurality of writing tracks adapted to have recorded thereon to-be-written data as written data, a machine readable storage device, and computer code stored on the machine readable storage device, with the computer code including instructions for causing a processor(s) set to perform operations including the following; receiving, by a buffer memory, a stream of to-be-written data, receiving, by the tape drive control logic, an identity of a first writing track of the plurality of writing tracks, with the first writing track being a track where to-be-written data is currently being permanently written as written data from the buffer memory to the tape medium by the tape recording head, receiving, by the tape drive control logic, flush indication data indicating that a flush of the buffer memory needs to be performed, responsive to the receipt of the buffer flush indication data, determining a second writing track of the plurality of writing tracks, with the second writing track being a writing track to be used in flushing to-be-written data from the buffer memory, and with the determination of the second writing being based, at least in part, upon a relative transverse direction proximity between the first writing track and the second writing track, and flushing at least a portion of the buffer memory by writing to-be-written data from the buffer memory as temporary written data to the second writing track. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A computer program product comprising:
a tape drive system including; a buffer memory, tape drive control logic, a tape recording head for writing to-be-written data, an elongated tape medium defining a transverse direction, with the tape medium being organized into a plurality of writing tracks adapted to have recorded thereon to-be-written data as written data, a machine readable storage device, and computer code stored on the machine readable storage device, with the computer code including instructions for causing a processor(s) set to perform operations including the following; receiving, by a buffer memory, a stream of to-be-written data, receiving, by the tape drive control logic, an identity of a first writing track of the plurality of writing tracks, with the first writing track being a track where to-be-written data is currently being permanently written as written data from the buffer memory to the tape medium by the tape recording head, receiving, by the tape drive control logic, flush indication data indicating that a flush of the buffer memory needs to be performed, responsive to the receipt of the buffer flush indication data, determining a second writing track of the plurality of writing tracks, with the second writing track being a writing track to be used in flushing to-be-written data from the buffer memory, and with the determination of the second writing being based, at least in part, upon a degree of tape degradation of the plurality of writing tracks, and flushing at least a portion of the buffer memory by writing to-be-written data from the buffer memory as temporary written data to the second writing track. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer program product comprising:
a tape drive system including; a buffer memory, tape drive control logic, a tape recording head for writing to-be-written data, an elongated tape medium defining a transverse direction, with the tape medium being organized into a plurality of writing tracks adapted to have recorded thereon to-be-written data as written data, a machine readable storage device, and computer code stored on the machine readable storage device, with the computer code including instructions for causing a processor(s) set to perform operations including the following; receiving, by a buffer memory, a stream of to-be-written data, receiving, by the tape drive control logic, an identity of a first writing track of the plurality of writing tracks, with the first writing track being a track where to-be-written data is currently being permanently written as written data from the buffer memory to the tape medium by the tape recording head, receiving, by the tape drive control logic, flush indication data indicating that a flush of the buffer memory needs to be performed, responsive to the receipt of the buffer flush indication data, determining a second writing track of the plurality of writing tracks, with the second writing track being a writing track to be used in flushing to-be-written data from the buffer memory, and with the determination of the second writing being based, at least in part, upon;
(i) a relative transverse direction proximity between the first writing track and the second writing track, and (ii) a degree of tape degradation of the plurality of writing tracks, andflushing at least a portion of the buffer memory by writing to-be-written data from the buffer memory as temporary written data to the second writing track. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
Specification