Reading and writing a header and record on tape

A computer implemented method for writing a record on a storage device, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a processor, a header and a compressed record from a host to be written to the storage device;
• determining, by a processor, metadata included in header information corresponding to the header;
• determining, by a processor, a write behavior specified by the metadata;
• and
• writing, by a processor, the metadata and the compressed record to the storage device according to the write behavior.

A computer program product for reading a record on a storage device, the program product comprising:

• one or more computer readable tangible storage media and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, wherein the one or more computer readable tangible storage media are not transitory signals per se, the program instructions executable by a computer to perform:
• initiating, by a processor, a bypass mode, wherein the bypass mode enables the reading of a compressed record absent a data decompression operation reading, by a processor, the compressed record, wherein tape metadata corresponding to the compressed record is collected;
• generating, by a processor, a header corresponding to the compressed record;
• converting, by a processor, the collected tape metadata to a header information, wherein the header information is stored in a header;
• adding, by a processor, the header information corresponding to the collected tape metadata to the header;
• and
• providing, by a processor, the header and the compressed record to a host.