US 7,603,386 B2 · Systems and methods for managing location of media in a storage system

Abstract

A system and method for operating a storage library. The system comprises a management server, a media agent connected to the management server, a library connected to the media agent and a database connected to the management server. The management server controls the media agent to monitor for the addition or removal of a piece of media in the library. When the media agent determines that the piece of media has been added to the library or removed from the library, the media agent causes the library to read a media label stored as data on the piece of media, the media label including an identifier identifying the piece of media. When a backup or restore is performed, the system checks the media label to ensure that the correct media is being used. Inventory procedures are disclosed. Media labels are stored in a database along with an indication of the corresponding slot where the media is stored, a time when the label was put on the medium, and a confidence parameter indicating how confident the system is that the particular medium is stored in the respective slot.

Claims8

Dependent claims

A system for managing media in a storage device, the system comprising:

a plurality of storage libraries wherein at least one storage library is blind and at least one storage library is sighted, the plurality of storage libraries comprising a plurality of slots, each slot configured to hold a piece of media;
a media agent coupled to the storage libraries and configured to determine which of the storage libraries are blind and which of the storage libraries are sighted, wherein the media agent is further configured to store information in a database about which of the storage libraries are blind and which of the storage libraries are sighted, wherein the media agent is further configured to read a media label stored as data on a piece of media when the piece of media is added to or removed from a slot in the storage library, the media label including an identifier identifying the piece of media;
and
a management module in communication with the media agent, the management module configured to access a database entry associated with the identifier and to store with the database entry an indication of the slot associated with the piece of media.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Systems and methods for managing location of media in a storage system

Life of this patent

Systems and methods for managing location of media in a storage system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims8