System, method and computer program product for synchronizing data written to tape including writing an index into a data partition
First Claim
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a memory;
at least one processor;
a network interface for coupling the apparatus over a network to at least one library, containing at least one storage medium;
the at least one storage medium capable of being mounted and unmounted;
the at least one storage medium containing a volume;
the volume containing an index partitition and a data partition;
instructions stored in the memory, the instructions translatable by the at least one processor to;
when the at least one storage medium is mounted, write an index from the index partition of the volume into the memory such that the memory stores an in-memory version of the index;
periodically perform a synchronization operation to write the in-memory version of the index to the data partition of the volume such that the data partition of the volume stores a copy of the in-memory version of the index;
when the at least one storage medium is to be unmounted, perform an unmount operation to write the in-memory version of the index from the memory into the index partition of the volume;
when the at least one storage medium is to be mounted again, compare the index written to the index partition of the volume with the index written to the data partition of the volume; and
if the indexes do not match, automatically perform a recovery operation to update the index partition of the volume with the copy of the in-memory version of the index from the data partition of the volume.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system, method and computer program product for synchronizing data written to tape with improved data recovery. When writing data to tape, an index is kept in memory and updated to reflect change(s) to a file system mounted on tape. After a predetermined amount of data is written to a tape, a device may perform a sync operation, causing the index to be written into a data partition of the tape. If the sync operation is successful, the index in the index partition of the tape can be updated using a copy of the index in the data partition of the tape next time the tape is mounted. If the sync operation is not successful, the device may write the data to a different location on the same or another tape, update the index, and force another sync operation. This process can be repeated.
12 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. An apparatus, comprising:
-
a memory; at least one processor; a network interface for coupling the apparatus over a network to at least one library, containing at least one storage medium; the at least one storage medium capable of being mounted and unmounted; the at least one storage medium containing a volume; the volume containing an index partitition and a data partition; instructions stored in the memory, the instructions translatable by the at least one processor to; when the at least one storage medium is mounted, write an index from the index partition of the volume into the memory such that the memory stores an in-memory version of the index; periodically perform a synchronization operation to write the in-memory version of the index to the data partition of the volume such that the data partition of the volume stores a copy of the in-memory version of the index; when the at least one storage medium is to be unmounted, perform an unmount operation to write the in-memory version of the index from the memory into the index partition of the volume; when the at least one storage medium is to be mounted again, compare the index written to the index partition of the volume with the index written to the data partition of the volume; and if the indexes do not match, automatically perform a recovery operation to update the index partition of the volume with the copy of the in-memory version of the index from the data partition of the volume. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A method for writing data to a volume on a storage medium, comprising:
-
when the storage medium is mounted, writing an index from an index partition of the volume into a memory of an archive node appliance connected to the storage medium such that the memory stores an in-memory version of the index; the archive node appliance periodically performing a synchronization operation to write the in-memory version of the index to a data partition of the volume such that the data partition of the volume stores a copy of the in-memory version of the index; when the storage medium is to be unmounted, the archive node appliance performing an unmount operation to write the in-memory version of the index from the memory into the index partition of the volume; when the storage medium is to be mounted again, the archive node appliance comparing the index written to the index partition of the volume with the index written to the data partition of the volume; and if the indexes do not match, the archive node appliance automatically performing a recovery operation to update the index partition of the volume with the copy of the in-memory version of the index from the data partition of the volume. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions translatable by at least one processor to:
-
when a storage medium is mounted, write an index from an index partition of a volume on the storage medium into a memory of an archive node appliance connected to the storage medium such that the memory stores an in-memory version of the index; periodically perform a synchronization operation to write the in-memory version of the index to a data partition of the volume on the storage medium such that the data partition of the volume stores a copy of the in-memory version of the index; when the storage medium is to be unmounted, perform an unmount operation to write the in-memory version of the index from the memory into the index partition of the volume; when the storage medium is to be mounted again, compare the index written to the index partition of the volume with the index written to the data partition of the volume; and if the indexes do not match, automatically perform a recovery operation to update the index partition of the volume with the copy of the in-memory version of the index from the data partition of the volume. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification