System and method for reducing latency for serially accessible media

A method for improving access time in a data storage system comprising a plurality of serially accessible media and at least one media drive, comprising the steps of:

• receiving a request to write data;
• writing the data to a first serially accessible media at a first offset location;
• and
• writing the data to a second serially accessible media at a second offset location, wherein the first and second serially accessible media are different physical media devices, and wherein the first offset location and the second offset location are at the same offset location on each of the first and second serially accessible media.

A method for improving access time in a data storage system comprising a plurality of serially accessible media and at least one media drive, comprising the steps of:

• receiving a request to write data;
• writing the data to a first serially accessible media at a first offset location;
• and
• writing the data to a second serially accessible media at a second offset location;
• wherein the first and second serially accessible media each have a first half portion and a second half portion, and wherein the first serially accessible media is positioned to be first half portion biased after completion of the first writing step, and the second tape media is positioned to be second half portion biased after completion of the second writing step.

A system for improving access time in a data storage system comprising a plurality of serially accessible media and at least one media drive, comprising the steps of:

• means for receiving a request to write data;
• means for writing the data to a first serially accessible media at a first offset location;
• and
• means for writing the data to a second serially accessible media at a second offset location, wherein the first and second serially accessible media each have a first portion and a second portion, and wherein the first offset location is longitudinally positioned along the first portion of the first serially accessible media, and the second offset location is longitudinally positioned along the second portion of the second serially accessible media.

A system for improving access time in a data storage system comprising a plurality of serially accessible media and at least one media drive, comprising the steps of:

• means for receiving a request to write data;
• means for writing the data to a first serially accessible media at a first offset location;
• and
• means for writing the data to a second serially accessible media at a second offset location, wherein the first and second serially accessible media are different physical media devices, and wherein the first offset location and the second offset location are at the same offset location on each of the first and second serially accessible media.

A system for improving access time in a data storage system comprising a plurality of serially accessible media and at least one media drive, comprising the steps of:

• means for receiving a request to write data;
• means for writing the data to a first serially accessible media at a first offset location;
• and
• means for writing the data to a second serially accessible media at a second offset location, wherein the first and second serially accessible media each have a first half portion and a second half portion, and wherein the first serially accessible media is positioned to be first half portion biased after completion of the first writing step, and the second tape media is positioned to be second half portion biased after completion of the second writing step.

A method for reading data in a data storage system comprising a plurality of serially accessible media and at least one media drive, comprising the steps of:

• receiving a request to read data;
• selecting a serially accessible media by determining which of the plurality of serially accessible media containing a copy of the requested data has the lowest access time;
• loading the selected serially accessible media into a media drive;
• and
• reading the data from the loaded serially accessible media.

A method for reading data in a data storage system comprising a plurality of serially accessible media and a plurality of media drives, comprising the steps of:

• receiving a request from a requestor to read data;
• determining which of the plurality of serially accessible media contain a copy of the requested data;
• loading at least some of the determined serially accessible media into respective media drives;
• seeking to a copy of the data in each of the loaded media drives;
• and
• reading the data from the media drive that is first to access the data;
• and
• providing the read data to the requester.

A method for improving access time in a data storage system comprising a plurality of serially accessible media and at least one media drive, comprising the steps of:

• receiving a request to write data;
• writing the data to a first serially accessible media at a first offset location;
• writing the data to a second serially accessible media at a second offset location;
• receiving a request to read the data;
• selecting a serially accessible media by determining which of the plurality of serially accessible media containing a copy of the requested data has the lowest access time;
• loading the selected serially accessible media into a media drive;
• and
• reading the data from the loaded serially accessible media.