Storing multiple instances of a housekeeping data set on a magnetic recording tape
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsTsuyoshi Miyamura, Setsuko Masuda
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus according to one embodiment includes a controller configured to control writing operations to a magnetic recording tape. The apparatus further includes logic integrated with and/or executable by the controller for causing the controller to write user data to the magnetic recording tape in a user data area of the magnetic recording tape. Furthermore, the logic is integrated with and/or executable by the controller for causing the controller to create a housekeeping data set (HKDS) that includes location information for the user data written in the user data area, and write several copies of the HKDS in a non-user data area of the magnetic recording tape.
Claims16
An apparatus, comprising:
- a controller configured to control writing operations to a magnetic recording tape;
- logic integrated with and/or executable by the controller for causing the controller to:
- write user data to the magnetic recording tape in a user data area of the magnetic recording tape;
- create a housekeeping data set (HKDS) that includes location information for the user data written in the user data area;
- and
- write several copies of the HKDS in a non-user data area of the magnetic recording tape,
- wherein a damaged physical portion of the non-user data area of the magnetic recording tape is skipped over during writing of the several copies of the HKDS in the non-user data area of the magnetic recording tape.
A computer-implemented method, comprising:
- writing user data to a magnetic recording tape in a user data area of the magnetic recording tape;
- creating a housekeeping data set (HKDS) that includes location information for the user data written in the user data area;
- writing several copies of the HKDS in a non-user data area of the magnetic recording tape;
- reading one copy of the HKDS in response to receiving a request to read the user data, and reading the user data using information from the HKDS;
- and
- reading at least another copy of the HKDS in response to occurrence of a read error when reading the one copy of the HKDS.
A computer program product for storing multiple instances of a housekeeping data set (HKDS) on a magnetic recording tape, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions readable and/or executable by a controller to cause the controller to:
- write, by the controller, user data to a magnetic recording tape in a user data area of the magnetic recording tape;
- create, by the controller, a HKDS that includes location information for the user data written in the user data area;
- write, by the controller, several copies of the HKDS in a non-user data area of the magnetic recording tape;
- read, by the controller, one copy of the HKDS in response to receiving a request to read the user data;
- and
- read, by the controller, at least another copy of the HKDS in response to occurrence of a read error when reading the one copy of the HKDS.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.