File index, metadata storage, and file system management for magnetic tape
First Claim
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1. A method for writing data to a magnetic recording tape, the method comprising:
- writing a plurality of files to a first partition of a magnetic recording tape using a tape drive, file content being written in a first data partition in multiple linear tracks each having a longitudinal axis oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape, the linear tracks being written in multiple wraps; and
writing an index to a second partition of the magnetic recording tape using the tape drive, the index including information about locations of data of the plurality of files in the first partition of the magnetic recording tape,wherein the partitions are physically separate and independently addressable on the magnetic recording tape,wherein the first partition is a longitudinal partition arranged longitudinally along the magnetic recording tape,wherein the second partition is a longitudinal partition arranged longitudinally along the magnetic recording tape,each partition comprising multiple wraps,wherein the index in the second partition is aligned on the tape, in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape, with at least one of the files in the first partition,wherein the writing the plurality of files to the first partition is performed using shingled writing,wherein a longitudinal buffering band is present between the first and second partitions, the longitudinal buffering band extending along shingled tracks of the first partition along the longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape, wherein the longitudinal buffering band is configured to isolate writing in the first partition from overwriting neighboring tracks in the second partition, and wherein the longitudinal buffering band comprises an entirety of at least one full wrap of the magnetic recording tape.
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Abstract
In one embodiment, a method for writing data to a magnetic recording tape includes writing a plurality of files to a first partition of a magnetic recording tape using a tape drive, and writing an index to a second partition of the magnetic recording tape using the tape drive, the index including information about locations of data of the plurality of files in the first partition of the magnetic recording tape.
57 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for writing data to a magnetic recording tape, the method comprising:
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writing a plurality of files to a first partition of a magnetic recording tape using a tape drive, file content being written in a first data partition in multiple linear tracks each having a longitudinal axis oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape, the linear tracks being written in multiple wraps; and writing an index to a second partition of the magnetic recording tape using the tape drive, the index including information about locations of data of the plurality of files in the first partition of the magnetic recording tape, wherein the partitions are physically separate and independently addressable on the magnetic recording tape, wherein the first partition is a longitudinal partition arranged longitudinally along the magnetic recording tape, wherein the second partition is a longitudinal partition arranged longitudinally along the magnetic recording tape, each partition comprising multiple wraps, wherein the index in the second partition is aligned on the tape, in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape, with at least one of the files in the first partition, wherein the writing the plurality of files to the first partition is performed using shingled writing, wherein a longitudinal buffering band is present between the first and second partitions, the longitudinal buffering band extending along shingled tracks of the first partition along the longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape, wherein the longitudinal buffering band is configured to isolate writing in the first partition from overwriting neighboring tracks in the second partition, and wherein the longitudinal buffering band comprises an entirety of at least one full wrap of the magnetic recording tape. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A non-transitory computer program product for writing data to a magnetic recording tape, the computer program product comprising:
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a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising; computer readable program code configured to write a plurality of files to a first partition of a magnetic recording tape in multiple linear tracks using a tape drive, each of the linear tracks having a longitudinal axis oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape; and computer readable program code configured to write an index to a second partition of the magnetic recording tape using the tape drive, the index including hierarchical directories in which are stored information about locations of data of the plurality of files in the first partition, wherein the partitions are physically separate and independently addressable longitudinal partitions arranged longitudinally along the magnetic recording tape, wherein each partition comprises one or more wraps of the magnetic recording tape, wherein a longitudinal buffering band comprising at least one wrap of the magnetic recording tape is present between the first partition and second partition and extends along the linear tracks written in the first partition, the longitudinal buffering being configured to isolate writing in the first partition from overwriting neighboring tracks in the second partition.
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14. A method, comprising:
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storing a plurality of files in a first data partition of a magnetic recording tape using a tape drive, the plurality of files being written in the first data partition in multiple linear tracks each having a longitudinal axis oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape, the linear tracks being written in multiple wraps; storing an index in a second data partition of the magnetic recording tape using the tape drive, the index comprising at least two file attributes for each file in the first data partition, where the file attributes are selected from a group consisting of;
a file name, a file size, a file type, a date of creation, a date of last modification, a checksum of file content, a location of the file and/or portions thereof in the first partition, and access information;storing a search index in the second data partition of the magnetic recording tape using the tape drive, the search index including information about data content of the plurality of files in the first data partition; and retrieving a desired portion of file content stored in the first data partition using the index and/or the search index, wherein the first and second data partitions are physically separate and independently addressable on the magnetic recording tape, wherein the index in the second data partition is aligned on the tape, in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape, with at least one of the files in the first data partition, wherein a buffering band comprising an entirety of at least one full wrap of the magnetic recording tape is positioned between the first and second data partitions.
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15. A method for formatting a magnetic recording tape, comprising:
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formatting a first partition and a second partition on a magnetic recording tape using a tape drive, wherein the first partition is formatted for writing file content in multiple parallel wraps of linear tracks each having a longitudinal axis oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape; writing an initial index to the second partition, the initial index comprising file content indexing information, the index being stored on the second partition as an XML index file with a plurality of name-value pairs; selecting whether a file is to be written to the first partition and/or the second partition based on one or more rules stored in the index, wherein the first and second partitions are longitudinal partitions arranged longitudinally along the magnetic recording tape, and are physically separate and independently addressable on the magnetic recording tape; and wherein a longitudinal buffering band of one or more wraps is present between the first partition and the second partition, and extends along the linear tracks of the first partition. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A method, comprising:
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storing file content in at least two data partitions of a magnetic recording tape using a tape drive, the file content being stored in each data partition in multiple linear tracks each having a longitudinal axis oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape, the linear tracks being written in multiple wraps; storing an index in an index partition of the magnetic recording tape using the tape drive, the index comprising indexing information associated with the file content in the data partitions; performing a first update of the file content stored in at least one of the data partitions by appending a first set of new content at an end of the file content therein and writing an first updated version of the index; and performing a second update of the file content stored in at least one of the data partitions by appending a second set of new content at an end of the first set of new content therein and writing a second updated version of the index, wherein writing the second updated version of the index comprises;
physically overwriting the index with the first updated version of the index, and physically overwriting the first updated version of the index with the second updated version of the index;wherein a longitudinal buffering band of one or more wraps is present between the first partition and the second partition, and extends along the linear tracks of the first partition. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for reading data from a magnetic recording tape having at least two partitions, the method comprising:
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reading an index stored on a first partition of a magnetic recording tape using a tape drive; finding locations of a plurality of file portions on the magnetic recording tape using the index; and reading the file portions from a second partition of the magnetic recording tape using the tape drive, the file portions being stored in the second partition in multiple linear tracks each having a longitudinal axis oriented parallel to a longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape, the linear tracks characterized as having been written in multiple wraps, wherein the partitions are physically separate and independently addressable on the magnetic recording tape, wherein the partitions are longitudinal partitions, each partition comprising one or more wraps extending a length of the magnetic recording tape, wherein a longitudinal buffering band comprising one or more wraps extending the length of the magnetic recording tape is present between the first partition and the second partition, wherein the index in the first partition is aligned on the tape, in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the magnetic recording tape, with at least one of the files in the second partition.
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Specification