Management of removable media for multiple device types
First Claim
1. A media storage allocation apparatus, connected to at least one associated computer system, for controlling the storing and retrieving of a plurality of media elements having substantially uniform exterior dimensions, each of said media elements being stored in one of a plurality of uniform size media element storage locations which are formed in an array adapted to receive and store media elements, via at least one media transferring element which transfers said media elements between said uniform Size media element storage locations and a number of drive elements which are connected to said at least one associated computer system to read and write data thereon, comprising:
- means for storing data indicative of at least two sets of media elements, each Of said at least two sets of media elements representing media elements having a combination of media element attributes common to that set of media elements and differing from combinations of media element attributes found in others of said at least two sets of media elements;
means for storing data indicative of at least two sets of drive elements, each of said at least two sets of drive elements representing drive elements having a combination of drive attributes common to that set of drive elements and differing from combinations of drive element attributes found in others of said at least two sets of drive elements;
means for storing data indicative of at least one media transferring element, each of said at least one media transferring elements being associated with a plurality of said drive elements for transferring media elements between said uniform size media storage locations and said associated plurality of said drive elements;
means, responsive to said at least one associated computer system requesting access to a media element stored in one of said uniform size media storage locations, for identifying at least one of said drive elements having drive element attributes that correspond to said media element attributes required for processing said requested media element;
means, responsive to said identifying means for selecting at least one of said at least one media transferring elements associated with said identified at least one drive elements; and
means for activating said selected at least one of said at least One media transferring elements to transfer said requested media element from said uniform size media storage location to said identified at least one drive elements.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The removable media management system operates with a manual, an automated, or a combination of subsets of manual and automated library system to store and retrieve media cartridges for an associated plurality of drive elements. This system enables the use of a plurality of types of media within the single monolithic cartridge library system and a corresponding plurality of drive elements associated with said library system. Thus, each drive element has associated therewith a number of object storage locations within the library system which contains media of a form and content that matches the drive element. The removable media management system maps the correspondence between object storage location, media type, designated drive element in a manner such that the single library is partitioned into subsets for the user, i.e., the removable media management system provides the capability to define subsets of media types which have consistent mechanical and electrical characteristics, but can vary in data management attributes. This enables the user to transition to another media on an incremental basis, since a single drive element can be added to the library and associated media added as needed without displacing the embedded base (independent of vendor) of installed media handling processes or software or equipment or requiring significant modification to these.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A media storage allocation apparatus, connected to at least one associated computer system, for controlling the storing and retrieving of a plurality of media elements having substantially uniform exterior dimensions, each of said media elements being stored in one of a plurality of uniform size media element storage locations which are formed in an array adapted to receive and store media elements, via at least one media transferring element which transfers said media elements between said uniform Size media element storage locations and a number of drive elements which are connected to said at least one associated computer system to read and write data thereon, comprising:
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means for storing data indicative of at least two sets of media elements, each Of said at least two sets of media elements representing media elements having a combination of media element attributes common to that set of media elements and differing from combinations of media element attributes found in others of said at least two sets of media elements; means for storing data indicative of at least two sets of drive elements, each of said at least two sets of drive elements representing drive elements having a combination of drive attributes common to that set of drive elements and differing from combinations of drive element attributes found in others of said at least two sets of drive elements; means for storing data indicative of at least one media transferring element, each of said at least one media transferring elements being associated with a plurality of said drive elements for transferring media elements between said uniform size media storage locations and said associated plurality of said drive elements; means, responsive to said at least one associated computer system requesting access to a media element stored in one of said uniform size media storage locations, for identifying at least one of said drive elements having drive element attributes that correspond to said media element attributes required for processing said requested media element; means, responsive to said identifying means for selecting at least one of said at least one media transferring elements associated with said identified at least one drive elements; and means for activating said selected at least one of said at least One media transferring elements to transfer said requested media element from said uniform size media storage location to said identified at least one drive elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A media storage allocation apparatus, connected to at least one associated computer system, for controlling the storing and retrieving of a plurality of media elements having substantially uniform exterior dimensions and each containing one of a number of different types of media, said media elements being stored in a plurality of uniform size media element storage locations which are formed in an array adapted to receive and store said media elements, via at least one media transferring element which transfers said media elements between said uniform size media element storage locations and a number of drive elements which are connected to said at least one associated computer system to read and write data thereon, comprising:
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means for storing data indicative of at least two sets of media elements, each of said at least two sets of media elements representing media elements having a common type of media contained therein; means for storing data indicative of at least two sets of drive elements, each of said .at least two sets of drive elements representing drive elements that accept media elements having a common type of media therein; means for storing data indicative of at least one media transferring element, each of said at least one media transferring elements serving a plurality of said drive elements; means, responsive to said at least one associated computer system requesting access to a media element stored in one of said uniform size media storage locations, for identifying at least one of said drive elements that accepts a type of media that corresponds to said media in said requested media element; means, responsive to said identifying means for selecting at least one of said at least one media transferring elements that serves said identified at least one drive element; and means for activating said selected at least one of said at least one media transferring elements to transfer said requested media element from said uniform size media storage location to said identified at least one drive elements. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. In a media storage allocation apparatus, wherein a plurality of uniform size media element storage locations, each adapted to receive and store one of a plurality of media elements having substantially uniform exterior dimensions and each containing one of a number of different types of media, wherein said uniform size media storage locations are served by at least one media transferring element for storing and retrieving media elements for placement into a number of drive elements connected to at least one associated computer system to read and write data thereon, a method of allocating the placement of said media elements in a drive element comprising the steps of:
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storing data indicative of at least two sets of media elements, each of said at least two sets of media elements representing media elements having a combination of media element attributes common to that set of media elements and differing from combinations of media element attributes found in others of said at least two sets of media elements; storing data indicative of at least two sets of drive elements, each of said at least two sets of drive elements representing drive elements having a combination of drive attributes common to that set of drive elements and differing from combinations of drive element attributes found in others of said at least two sets of drive elements; storing data indicative of ones of said drive elements served by each of said at least one media transferring elements; identifying, in response to said at least one associated computer system requesting access to a media element stored in one of said uniform size media storage locations, one of said drive elements having drive element attributes that correspond to said media element attributes associated with said requested media element; selecting one of said at least one media transferring elements that serves said identified one of said drive elements; and transferring said requested media element from said uniform size media storage location to said identified one of said drive elements via said selected said at least one media transferring element. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. In a media storage allocation apparatus, wherein a plurality of uniform size media element storage locations are formed in an array, each of said uniform size media storage locations being adapted to receive and store one of a plurality of media elements having substantially uniform exterior dimensions and each containing one of a number of different types of media, served by at least one media transferring element for storing and retrieving a plurality of media elements for placement into a number of drive elements which are connected to at least one associated computer system to read and write data thereon, a method of allocating the placement of said media elements in a drive element comprising the steps of:
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storing data indicative of at least two sets of said media elements, each of said at least two sets of media elements representing media elements having a common type of media contained therein; storing data indicative of at least two sets of said drive elements, each of said at least two sets of drive elements representing drive elements that accept media elements having a common type of media therein; storing data indicative of the ones of said drive elements served by each of said at least one media transferring elements; identifying, in response to said at least one associated computer system requesting access to one of said media elements stored in one of said uniform size media storage locations, one of said drive elements that accepts a type of media that corresponds to media contained in said requested media element; selecting one of said at least one media transferring elements that serves said identified one of said drive elements; and transferring said requested media element from said uniform size media storage location to said identified one of said drive elements via said selected at least one media transferring element. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27)
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28. A media storage allocation apparatus, connected to at least one associated computer system, for controlling the storing and retrieving of a plurality of media elements having substantially uniform exterior dimensions and each containing one of a number of different types of media which are stored in a plurality of uniform size media element storage locations formed in an array, each of said uniform size media element locations .being adapted to receive and store one of said media elements, via at least one media transferring element which transfers said media elements between said uniform size media element storage locations and a number of drive elements which are connected to said at least one associated computer system to read and write data thereon, comprising:
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means for storing data indicative of a correspondence between each one of said media elements stored in said uniform size media storage locations and at least one of said drive elements, said correspondence representing drive element attributes that are in common with media element attributes of said one media element; means for storing data indicative of the ones of said drive elements served by each of said at least one media transferring elements; and means, responsive to said at least one associated computer system requesting access to a media element stored in one of said uniform Size media storage locations, for activating one of said at least One media transferring elements to transfer said requested media element from said uniform size media storage location to one of said corresponding drive elements. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification