System and Method for Archive Verification

• US 20090198737A1
• Filed: 02/04/2008
• Published: 08/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CF DB EZ LLC (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Crossroads Systems (Texas) Incorporated (Crossroads Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sims, Robert C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,645,328 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/008 Reliability or availability analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/113 Details of archiving lifecycle management in storage systems G06F3/0649; backup systems G06F11/1446
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 15/6835 the cassettes being transferred to a fixed recorder or player using a moving carriage
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2220/41 Flat as opposed to hierarchical combination, e.g. library of tapes or discs, CD changer, or groups of record carriers that together store one title
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/002 Programmed access in sequence to a plurality of record carriers or indexed parts, e.g. tracks, thereof, e.g. for editing; transfer of record carriers from magazine G11B15/68, G11B17/10; G11B17/22
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/36 Monitoring, i.e. supervising the progress of recording or reproducing for digital recording G11B20/00 and s.gr.; for monitoring, testing or measuring of TV recorders of the type covered by H04N5/76 and subgroups, see H04N17/06

Abstract

Embodiments provide systems and methods for archive verification of media in a library. A method of archive verification may comprise loading a specified media into a drive at intervals, sending one or more commands to the drive, wherein the drive attempts to read the specified media or data on the specified media in accordance with the one or more commands, collecting data associated with the specified media from the drive and determining the readability of the specified media or data on the specified media.

Claims

1. An appliance for archive verification, comprising:

a network interface operable to send commands over a network and receive data from the network;

a processor coupled to the network interface; and

a computer readable media storing computer instructions executable by the processor to;

load a specified media into a drive of a media library at intervals according to a policy;

send one or more commands to the drive to instruct the drive to read the specified media in accordance with the one or more commands;

collect data associated with the specified media from the drive; and

determine the readability of the specified media based on the collected data and one or more verification policies.

2. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the specified media is a tape cartridge.

3. The appliance of claim 1, wherein sending one or more commands to the drive comprises:

sending a Read Attribute command to the drive; and

sending a Read command to the drive.

4. The appliance of claim 1, wherein sending one or more commands to the drive comprises:

sending a Read Attribute command to the drive; and

sending a Verify command to the drive.

5. The appliance of claim 1, wherein collecting data associated with the specific media comprises sending a LS command to the drive.

6. The appliance of claim 1, wherein the drive is dedicated to archive verification.

7. The appliance of claim 1, wherein determining the readability of the specified media comprises the analysis of read errors associated with the specified media.

8. A method of archive verification, comprising:

loading a specified media into a drive of a media library at intervals according to a policy;

sending one or more commands to the drive instructing the drive to read the specified media in accordance with the one or more commands;

collecting data associated with the specified media from the drive generated in response to the one or more commands; and

determining the readability of the specified media based on the collected data and one or more verification policies.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the specified media is a tape cartridge.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein sending one or more commands to the drive comprises:

sending a Read Attribute command to the drive; and

sending a Read command to the drive.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein sending one or more commands to the drive comprises:

sending a Read Attribute command to the drive; and

sending a Verify command to the drive.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein collecting data associated with the specific media comprises sending a LS command to the drive.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the drive is dedicated to archive verification.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining that the specified media is exhibiting decreased reliability; and

issuing an alert based on the decreased reliability.

15. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining that the specified media is exhibiting decreased reliability; and

transferring the data from the specified media to a different media based on the decreased reliability.

16. The method of claim 85 wherein determining the readability of the specified media comprises the analysis of read errors associated with the specified media.

17. A software product comprising a computer readable medium storing a set of computer instructions, the computer instructions executable to:

load a specified media into a drive of a media library at intervals according to a policy;

send one or more commands to the drive instructing the drive to read the specified media in accordance with the one or more commands;

collect data associated with the specified media from the drive; and

determine the readability of the specified media based on the collected data and one or more verification policies.

18. The software product of claim 17, wherein the specified media is a tape cartridge.

19. The software product of claim 17, wherein sending one or more commands to the drive comprises:

sending a Read Attribute command to the drive; and

sending a Read command to the drive.

20. The software product of claim 17, wherein sending one or more commands to the drive comprises:

sending a Read Attribute command to the drive; and

sending a Verify command to the drive.

21. The software product of claim 17, wherein collecting data associated with the specific media comprises sending a LS command to the drive.

22. The software product of claim 17, wherein the drive is dedicated to archive verification.

23. The software product of claim 17, wherein determining the readability of the specified media comprises the analysis of read errors associated with the specified media.

24. The software product of claim 17, further comprising computer instructions executable to:

determine that the specified media is exhibiting decreased reliability; and

issue an alert based on the decreased reliability.

25. The software product of claim 17, further comprising computer instructions executable to:

determine that the specified media is exhibiting decreased reliability; and

transfer the data from the specified media to a different media based on the decreased reliability.