# US 2014/0195745 A1 · Data Storage Mechanism Using Storage System Determined Write Locations > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0195745 A1 - Document ID: US20140195745A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/733,997 - Filed: 2013-01-04 - Published: 2014-07-10 - Earliest claimed: 2013-01-04 - Assignees: International Business Machines Corporation - Applicants: International Business Machines Corporation - Inventors: Toshiyuki Shiratori - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140195745A1 ## CPC - G11B 20/1201: {on tapes} - G06F 3/0604: {Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management} - G06F 3/0611: {in relation to response time} - G06F 3/0629: {Configuration or reconfiguration of storage systems} - G06F 3/064: {Management of blocks} - G06F 3/0682: {Tape device} - G06F 12/00: Accessing, addressing or allocating within memory systems or architectures (digital input from, or digital output to record carriers, e.g. to disk storage units, G06F3/06) - G11B 5/00813: {magnetic tapes} - G11B 20/10: Digital recording or reproducing - G11B: INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER (recording measured values in a way that does not require playback through a transducer G01D9/00; recording or playback apparatus using mechanically marked tape, e.g. punched paper tape, or using unit records, e.g. punched or magnetically marked cards G06K; transferring data from one type of record carrier to another G06K1/18; circuits for coupling output of reproducer to radio receiver H04B1/20; gramophone pick-ups or like acoustic electromechanical transducers or circuits therefor H04R) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract Mechanisms are provided, in a storage system controller of a storage system, for writing data to a storage medium. The storage system controller receives a write request to write a block of data to the storage medium. The write request does not specify a location on the storage medium to which to write the block of data. The storage system controller determines a current position of a write mechanism of the storage system relative to the storage medium and determines a location on the storage medium to write the block of data based on the current position of the write mechanism. The storage system controller sends a notification to a host system identifying the location of the block of data on the storage medium as determined by the storage system controller. The writing mechanism writes the block of data to the determined location on the storage medium. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method, in a storage system controller of a storage system, for writing data to a storage medium of the storage system, comprising: receiving, in the storage system controller, a write request to write at least one block of data to the storage medium of the storage system, wherein the write request does not specify a location on the storage medium to which to write the at least one block of data; determining, by the storage system controller, a current position of a write mechanism of the storage system relative to the storage medium; determining, by the storage system controller, a location on the storage medium to write the at least one block of data based on the current position of the write mechanism; sending a notification, from the storage system controller to a host system from which the write request was received, identifying the location of the at least one block of data on the storage medium as determined by the storage system controller; and writing, by the writing mechanism of the storage system, the at least one block of data to the determined location on the storage medium. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the write request comprises at least one performance parameter specifying a desired performance characteristic for accessing the at least one block of data, and wherein the storage system controller determines a location on the storage medium to write the at least one block of data based on the performance parameter. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one performance parameter comprises a parameter specifying a proximity setting relative to a beginning of the storage medium where the at least one block of data is to be written. ### Claim 4 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one performance parameter comprises a parameter specifying a setting indicating how rapidly the write operation corresponding to the write request should be performed. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one performance parameter comprises a parameter specifying how sparsely data is to be stored on the storage medium. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the write request comprises additional information specifying a first current physical location, on the storage medium, of a preceding data block that is located logically before the at least one block of data and a second current physical location, on the storage medium, of a subsequent data block that is located logically after the at least one block of data. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the storage system controller determines a location on the storage medium to write the at least one block of data based on the first current physical location and the second current physical location. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein writing the at least one block of data to the determined location on the storage medium further comprises moving at least one of the preceding data block or the subsequent data block to a new location on the storage medium to provide contiguous positioning of the preceding data block, the at least one block of data, and the subsequent data block. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The method of claim 6, wherein the first current physical location and second current physical location are provided in the additional information as tuples having the format [starting physical address, number of data blocks]. ### Claim 10 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2, wherein the performance parameters of the write request are set by at least one of an operating system or a file system of a host system submitting the write request based on information identifying at least one of a frequency of access of the at least one block of data or a sequence of access of data blocks associated with the at least one block of data. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one block of data is buffered by the storage system controller before performing a write operation to write the at least one block of data to the storage medium, and wherein sending the notification is performed subsequent to the determination of the location on the storage medium to write the at least one block of data and prior to completion of the write operation. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the storage medium is a magnetic tape storage medium. ### Claim 13 A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program stored therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed by a storage system controller of a storage system comprising a storage medium, causes the storage system controller to: receive a write request to write at least one block of data to the storage medium of the storage system, wherein the write request does not specify a location on the storage medium to which to write the at least one block of data; determine a current position of a write mechanism of the storage system relative to the storage medium; determine a location on the storage medium to write the at least one block of data based on the current position of the write mechanism; send a notification, from the storage system controller to a host system from which the write request was received, identifying the location of the at least one block of data on the storage medium as determined by the storage system controller; and write the at least one block of data to the determined location on the storage medium. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the write request comprises at least one performance parameter specifying a desired performance characteristic for accessing the at least one block of data, and wherein the storage system controller determines a location on the storage medium to write the at least one block of data based on the performance parameter. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the at least one performance parameter comprises a parameter specifying a proximity setting relative to a beginning of the storage medium where the at least one block of data is to be written. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the at least one performance parameter comprises a parameter specifying a setting indicating how rapidly the write operation corresponding to the write request should be performed. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the at least one performance parameter comprises a parameter specifying how sparsely data is to be stored on the storage medium. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the write request comprises additional information specifying a first current physical location, on the storage medium, of a preceding data block that is located logically before the at least one block of data and a second current physical location, on the storage medium, of a subsequent data block that is located logically after the at least one block of data. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the storage system controller determines a location on the storage medium to write the at least one block of data based on the first current physical location and the second current physical location. ### Claim 20 (depends on 18) The computer program product of claim 18, wherein writing the at least one block of data to the determined location on the storage medium further comprises moving at least one of the preceding data block or the subsequent data block to a new location on the storage medium to provide contiguous positioning of the preceding data block, the at least one block of data, and the subsequent data block. ### Claim 21 (depends on 18) The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the first current physical location and second current physical location are provided in the additional information as tuples having the format [starting physical address, number of data blocks]. ### Claim 22 (depends on 14) The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the performance parameters of the write request are set by at least one of an operating system or a file system of a host system submitting the write request based on information identifying at least one of a frequency of access of the at least one block of data or a sequence of access of data blocks associated with the at least one block of data. ### Claim 23 (depends on 13) The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the at least one block of data is buffered by the storage system controller before performing a write operation to write the at least one block of data to the storage medium, and wherein sending the notification is performed subsequent to the determination of the location on the storage medium to write the at least one block of data and prior to completion of the write operation. ### Claim 24 (depends on 13) The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the storage medium is a magnetic tape storage medium. ### Claim 25 An apparatus, comprising: a storage system controller; and a storage medium coupled to the storage system controller, wherein the storage system controller comprises logic configured to: receive a write request to write at least one block of data to the storage medium of the storage system, wherein the write request does not specify a location on the storage medium to which to write the at least one block of data; determine a current position of a write mechanism of the storage system relative to the storage medium; determine a location on the storage medium to write the at least one block of data based on the current position of the write mechanism; send a notification, from the storage system controller to a host system from which the write request was received, identifying the location of the at least one block of data on the storage medium as determined by the storage system controller; and write the at least one block of data to the determined location on the storage medium.