Tape media kiss-contact read verification

A tape appliance comprising:

• a production tape head module that is substantially in constant physical engagement with a magnetic tape recording medium, the production tape head module including at least one write element for writing magnetic transitions to the magnetic tape recording medium;
• a supplemental tape head module that includes one or more read elements, whereby at least one of the read elements generates an electrical signal that corresponds to transitions written to the magnetic tape recording medium by the at least one write element when the supplemental tape head module physically engages the magnetic tape recording medium, and wherein the at least one read element is disposed a distance away from the magnetic tape recording medium when the supplemental tape head module physically engages the magnetic tape recording medium such that a signal resolution measurement value is approximately a minimum acceptable value when the magnetic tape recording medium is a reference tape;
• a servo control circuit that controls movement of the supplemental tape head module to cause the supplemental tape head module to physically engage and disengage the magnetic tape recording medium;
• a read/write dataflow circuit that controls the execution of read and write data transfer operations executed by the at least one write element and the one or more read elements;
• and
• a microprocessor controller that controls the operation of the servo control circuit and the read/write dataflow circuit, and receives electrical signals generated by the at least one of the read elements corresponding to transitions written to the magnetic tape recording medium by the at least one write element;
• wherein the microprocessor controller operates to:
• cause the servo control circuit to cause the supplemental tape head module to periodically physically engage the magnetic tape recording medium;
• cause the read/write dataflow circuit to cause the at least one of the read elements to execute a read operation of transitions written to the magnetic tape recording medium by the at least one write element;
• receive the electrical signals generated by the at least one of the read elements corresponding to the transitions written to the magnetic tape recording medium by the at least one write element;
• determine if a quality metric of the magnetic tape recording medium derived from the received electrical signal is within a defined range;
• and
• in response to determining that the quality metric is not within the defined range, to perform a defined action.