Apparatus, system, and method for increasing the longevity of archival tape

An archival-tape unit comprising:

• an archival tape that is configured to store archival data;
• a cartridge dimensioned to house the archival tape;
• and
• a status tag, embedded on the cartridge, that is configured to store status data about the archival tape that facilitates procedures by a scheduling computing system to:
• deduce a health status of the archival tape from a tape status;
• adjust a read/write policy of the archival tape based on the health status;
• and
• command completion of a read/write process of the archival tape based on the adjusted read/write policy.

A tape-archival system comprising:

• at least one archival-tape unit that comprises:
• an archival tape configured to store archival data;
• a cartridge dimensioned to house the archival tape;
• and
• a status tag, embedded on the cartridge, that is configured to store status data about the archival tape;
• at least one status-tag reader that reads a tape status stored on a status tag embedded on the archival-tape unit;
• and
• a scheduling computing system that:
• suspends an initiation of a read/write process for the archival tape;
• deduces a health status of the archival tape from the tape status;
• adjusts a read/write policy of the archival tape based on the health status;
• and
• commands completion of the read/write process of the archival tape based on the adjusted read/write policy.