File index, metadata storage, and file system management for magnetic tape
First Claim
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1. A method, comprising:
- loading a tape cartridge into at least one tape drive installed in an automated tape library, wherein a tape of the tape cartridge has at least two partitions, each partition being a longitudinal partition arranged longitudinally along the tape;
writing a plurality of data blocks on a first of the partitions in a shingled format;
writing an index on a second of the partitions, wherein the index includes information about the plurality of data blocks on the first partition;
writing a first updated version of the index to the second partition upon updating at least one of the plurality of data blocks, the updating the at least one of the plurality of data blocks including appending data to the plurality of data blocks in the first partition; and
wherein the index and the first updated version of the index are written to different physical locations on the tape in the second partition,wherein the second partition is associated with one or more wraps designated only to the second partition and separated front one or more wraps designated only to the first partition by a buffering band of one or more wraps, wherein the buffering band is between the first and second partitions and is configured to isolate writing in one partition from overwriting neighboring tracks in the other partition,wherein at least one of the indexes in the second partition is aligned on the tape, relative to at least one of the data blocks in the first partition, in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the tape.
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Abstract
In one embodiment, a method includes loading a tape cartridge into at least one tape drive installed in an automated tape library, where a tape of the tape cartridge has at least two partitions; writing plurality of data blocks on a first of the partitions; and writing an index on a second of the partitions, wherein the index includes information about at least one of files and the blocks on the first partition.
57 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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loading a tape cartridge into at least one tape drive installed in an automated tape library, wherein a tape of the tape cartridge has at least two partitions, each partition being a longitudinal partition arranged longitudinally along the tape; writing a plurality of data blocks on a first of the partitions in a shingled format; writing an index on a second of the partitions, wherein the index includes information about the plurality of data blocks on the first partition; writing a first updated version of the index to the second partition upon updating at least one of the plurality of data blocks, the updating the at least one of the plurality of data blocks including appending data to the plurality of data blocks in the first partition; and wherein the index and the first updated version of the index are written to different physical locations on the tape in the second partition, wherein the second partition is associated with one or more wraps designated only to the second partition and separated front one or more wraps designated only to the first partition by a buffering band of one or more wraps, wherein the buffering band is between the first and second partitions and is configured to isolate writing in one partition from overwriting neighboring tracks in the other partition, wherein at least one of the indexes in the second partition is aligned on the tape, relative to at least one of the data blocks in the first partition, in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the tape. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system comprising:
a data tape cartridge, the data tape cartridge comprising; a magnetic recording tape having at least two independently writable partitions, wherein each of the at least two independently writable partitions are longitudinal partitions arranged longitudinally along the magnetic recording tape, wherein the at least two independently writable partitions allow a plurality of files to be recorded in a shingled format in a first partition and two or more copies of an index to be recorded in a second partition, wherein each of the two or more copies of the index contains at least one of a plurality of user settable file attributes and a hierarchical directory and structure that references the plurality of files in the first partition, wherein the second partition is associated with one or more wraps designated only to the second partition and separated from one or more wraps designated only to the first partition by a buffering band of one or more wraps, wherein the buffering band is between the first and second partitions and is configured to isolate writing in one partition from overwriting neighboring tracks in the other partition, wherein at least one of the indexes in the second partition is aligned on the tape, relative to at least one of the files in the first partition, in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A multi-partition tape cartridge, comprising:
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a magnetic recording tape having at least three partitions; a plurality of data blocks written to a first partition and a second partition; an initial index written to a third partition, the initial index including information about the plurality of data blocks on the first partition and the second partition; and an updated version of the initial index written to the third partition, the updated version of the initial index reflecting one or more changes to at least one of the plurality of data blocks that is not reflected in the initial index, wherein the partitions are physically separate and independently addressable on the tape, wherein the third partition is positioned ahead of the first partition and the second partition on the magnetic recording tape, wherein the initial index is positioned ahead of the updated version of the initial index on the tape in the third partition, wherein the plurality of data blocks written to the first partition and the second partition are written in a shingled format. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A non-transitory computer program product for writing an index on a tape, the computer program product comprising:
a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising; computer readable program code configured to load a tape cartridge into at least one tape drive installed in an automated tape library, where a tape of the tape cartridge has at least a first partition and a second partition, wherein the first partition and the second partition are each a longitudinal partition arranged longitudinally along the tape and comprise one or more wraps, wherein the one or more wraps of the first partition are separated from the one or more wraps of the second partition by a buffering band including one or more wraps, the buffering band being positioned between the first and second partitions to isolate writing in one partition from overwriting neighboring tracks in the other partition; computer readable program code configured to write a plurality of data blocks on a first of the partitions in a shingled format; computer readable program code configured to write two or more copies of an index on a second of the partitions, wherein each of the two or more copies of the index includes information about at least one of the plurality of data blocks on the first partition, wherein at least one of the copies of the index is an updated version of the index reflecting one or more changes to at least one of the plurality of data blocks that is not reflected in the other copies of the index, wherein at least one of the indexes in the second partition is aligned on the tape, relative to at least one of the data blocks in the first partition, in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the tape; and computer readable program code configured to create a unified index of contents of a plurality of tape cartridges stored in the automated tape library by; obtaining a list of a plurality of tapes to be indexed; sending a command to the automated tape library to load a selected tape into a tape drive; reading index information from the index in the second partition of the tape; appending information from the index to a unified index; causing the tape to unload; and repeating causing the loading, reading, appending, and unloading for each of the plurality of tape cartridges.
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25. A method, comprising:
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loading a tape cartridge into a tape drive installed in an automated tape library, where a tape of the tape cartridge has at least two partitions; reading an index from a first partition of the tape, wherein the index includes information about at least one of files and data blocks recorded in a shingled format on a second partition of the tape, wherein the first partition is associated with one or more wraps designated only to the first partition and separated from wraps designated to the second partition by a buffering band of one or more wraps, wherein the buffering band is between the first and second partitions and is configured to isolate writing in one partition from overwriting neighboring tracks in another partition, wherein the index in the first partition is aligned on the tape, relative to at least one of the data blocks in the second partition, in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the tape; and using the information to locate and read a plurality of data blocks of at least one file from the second partition.
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Specification