Patent Application
20120233133
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to computers, and more particularly to a method, system, and computer program product for facilitating data storage using contactless integrated circuit (IC) memory on removable media.
2. Description of the Related Art
Automated data storage libraries are known for providing cost effective storage and retrieval of large quantities of data. The data is stored on data storage media that is typically contained within a cartridge and referred to as a data storage media cartridge. The media comprises removable magnetic media (such as magnetic tape or disks), optical media (such as optical tape or disks), electronic media (such as PROM, EEPROM, flash PROM, Compactflash™, Smartmedia™, Memory Stick™, etc.), or other suitable media. The data storage library contains data storage drives that store data to, and/or retrieve data from the data storage media. The cartridges are stored inside the library in storage shelves when not in use by the data storage drives. One or more robot accessors retrieve selected cartridges from the storage shelves and provide them to data storage drives. Generally, data storage libraries contain a large number of storage shelves to place the cartridges when the cartridges are not in use by a data storage drive. Each storage shelf that may contain a cartridge is referenced or located by the library by a storage shelf address. The data storage library typically includes control electronics that direct the accessors operation, communicate with the data storage drives and interface to one or more host computers to transfer commands and/or data between the host computer and the data storage library. Typically, data stored on data storage media of an automated data storage library, once requested, is needed quickly. Thus, it is desirable that an automated data storage library be maintained in an operational condition as much as possible, such as the well-known “24×7×365” availability.
Various companies manufacture automated data storage libraries, and each company has libraries with different features. Early data storage libraries could only operate with a single host computer. Automated data storage libraries now offer the capability of sharing the entire library with a plurality of host computers. Any host computer that is attached to the library may obtain access to all, or part of the cartridges in the library. The IBM® 3584 UltraScalable Tape Library is an example of a product that has the internal capability to allocate data storage drives and storage shelves to multiple host computers. The data storage library can be divided into one or more logical libraries, where the robotics and electronics are usually shared throughout the library; however, the storage shelves and data storage drives are assigned to one of the logical libraries and are not shared.
Some removable media used in automated data storage libraries incorporates a contactless integrated circuit (IC) memory referred to as Cartridge Memory (CM). CM is currently used to maintain information relating to the removable media itself, such as cartridge information used in internal operations. The cartridge information may be needed for diagnostic operations, for example. The CM information may be accessed through the drive interface, or the information may be accessed through a CM reader/writer, which accesses the CM through radio frequency (RF) communication.
While diagnostic information relating to the removable media is helpful in many settings, other situations may present where it may be desirable to obtain information about the data stored on the removable media itself Because such data is generally application specific, however, the maintenance of information relating to or describing this data, such as table of contents information, has required the implementation of unique command sets or modifications to the application to support storage of this information in CM.
In view of the foregoing, a need exists for a mechanism whereby application-specific information describing data stored on removable media may be maintained in CM, so as to allow retrieval without the need for mounting the media in the drive, for example, without necessitating additional resources as previously indicated.
Accordingly, various exemplary method, system, and computer program product embodiments for recording data on a contactless integrated circuit (IC) memory associated with a data storage cartridge are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, by way of example only, an index of a plurality of files to be recorded on a storage media of the data storage cartridge is parsed with a table of contents (TOC) profile file to build a table of contents (TOC) specific to an owning application of the plurality of files. The TOC is written to the contactless IC memory.
Related system and computer program product embodiments are also disclosed and provide additional advantages.
In order that the advantages of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:
Information technology (IT) is changing many business workflows. Broadcasting or movie production in the media and entertainment industry is a typical example. Conventional storage media such as videotape or chemical film are being replaced with digital files stored in data storage systems. Because tape media offers the lowest cost-per-gigabyte of storage, media such as Linear Tape Open (LTO)-formatted tape can be economically used in such scenarios. In the conventional movie or broadcasting workflow, for example, a single videotape generally corresponds to one video stream. As a result, when a video stream is recorded, its content title is handwritten on a single paper label, and then affixed to the videotape cartridge. If a video stream is recorded as a digital MPEG-compatible file, the file size will be given by the video stream's length. In case of MPEG2 video having a 100 Mbps data rate, 45 minutes of content equates to roughly 33 GB of data. LTO-4 tape media generally has an 800 GB capacity without compression, so that single LTO-4 tapes may store 24 video streams. If a user has multiple LTO-4 tapes with multiple video streams recorded on each, it is difficult to know which video is stored in which LTO tape without mounting the tape on a tape drive, and browsing the contents.
The illustrated embodiments below provide mechanisms for addressing the exemplary issue described above, where a user may be able to determine file information, such as table of contents (TOC) information for an application-specific file system of data, without the need for mounting the removable storage media on a drive and browsing file content. The illustrated embodiments use cartridge memory (CM) to store and retrieve such information in a rapid and non-resource intensive manner as will be further described.
In one embodiment, these mechanisms are operational on newer generation LTO-5 formatted tape, which will feature so-called multiple partition capability, enabling a file system to be stored on the LTO tape. When the file system is implemented for LTO-5-formatted tape, the LTO-5 tape maintains an index partition storing a file index (e.g., file names, directory, location, etc.), and a data partition, where the file data is written. The mechanisms of the illustrated embodiments may use an LTO tape drive to write application file-based TOC information by first parsing the aforementioned index partition. In other words, the LTO drive (such as the LTO-5 drive) may be adapted to parse the contents in the index partition with table of contents (TOC) profile information pre-written on the index partition. The LTO drive then builds the TOC, and writes the TOC to the CM (via RF communication, for example). As long as the file system is operational, the file system or an application does not need to write the TOC information on the storage media itself, and a user may access this information quickly and simply by using wireless communications functionality between a reader/drive and the cartridge.
Various aspects of the following description and claimed subject matter may be implemented in automated data storage library hardware. An exemplary embodiment of such automated data storage library hardware that may be utilized and/or adapted for the purposes of implementing the following includes the automated tape library system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,895,300, entitled “Use of Cartridge Memory for Storing Logical Library Association Information” dated May 17, 2005 and commonly assigned. The relevant portions of the above patent, such as the description of an exemplary automated data storage library (including robotic accessor(s), etc.), processor nodes, etc., are incorporated herein by reference.
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The cartridge memory 14 may be associated with any of the aforementioned shells. For example, the cartridge memory 14 may be mounted inside or outside the cartridge shell of a data storage tape cartridge. As another example, the cartridge memory may be mounted inside or outside the innermost shell of a Compact Disc (CD). Alternatively, a portion of the storage medium may be used in place of the cartridge memory. In this case, a cartridge memory reader or cartridge memory writer may actually read and/or write association information to a portion of the storage medium. Herein, cartridge memory may refer to the storage medium of the data cartridge or it may refer to a memory separate from the storage medium. The cartridge memory 14 may contain information pertaining to the data stored on the media of the data cartridge, and/or it may contain other information related to the use of the cartridge. Cartridge memory 14 is typically available in different capacities depending upon the use requirements.
The contents of cartridge memory 14 can be read or written by physically contacting the cartridge memory with electrical connections from a reader or writer device. The reading or writing device could be part of any gripper assembly of any library frame, as one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate. The cartridge memory 14 could be read or written whenever the gripper contacts the cartridge, for example before, during or after transportation of the cartridge between the storage shelves, drives, or input/output station. The contents of cartridge memory 14 may also be read or written by wireless communication technology such as with an optical or electromagnetic signal. An example of a wireless optical signal may comprise visible light, infrared light, LASER or other optical technologies as are known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Examples of other wireless electromagnetic signals may comprise Radio Frequency (RF) signals, magnetic induction or other wireless techniques as are known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
For example, the cartridge memory device may use the modulation of electromagnetic radiation to carry information between the cartridge memory and the reading and writing device(s). The electromagnetic carrier radiation may span a range from radio frequencies to visible light. This contactless communication presents numerous advantages because the reader/writer in the gripper assembly only has to come in proximity of the cartridge memory to transfer information. Herein, proximity refers to a minimum distance required to read and/or write the cartridge memory. For example, a cartridge memory that relies on direct electrical connection would require direct contact with electrical contacts or wires. A wireless cartridge memory system would require some minimum distance between the cartridge memory and the cartridge memory reader or cartridge memory writer. In addition to, or instead of, being coupled to the library, the cartridge memory reader and/or writer may be coupled to the read/write drive, enabling the reading and writing of the cartridge memory while the cartridge is in the drive.
Herein, the terms cartridge memory reader, memory reader, reader, cartridge memory writer, memory writer, and writer may refer to an interface between the cartridge memory and some other device attempting to read or write the contents of the cartridge memory. For example, the cartridge memory reader and cartridge memory writer may comprise electrical connections, wires, contacts, an antenna, a light detector or emitter, magnetic or optical read head, magnetic or optical write head, etc in addition, the cartridge memory reader and cartridge memory writer may actually be the same hardware. In the case where the cartridge memory comprises the storage medium of the data cartridge, the reader and/or writer may comprise a device that is capable of reading and/or writing the storage medium. For example, the reader and/or writer may comprise a magnetic tape or disk head, optical tape or disk head, etc. The device capable of reading or writing the contents of the cartridge memory may comprise a library controller, a processor or component of the library, a drive, a processor or component of the drive, etc.
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A storage drive, such as the depicted LTO tape drive 20 is adapted to receive a removable storage media, in this case, an LTO tape cartridge 12. The LTO tape drive 20 includes, or is in communication with, data processor 42, data buffer 34, and RF communication unit 46 as shown. The LTO tape cartridge 12 includes contactless IC memory 14 (CM) as shown.
In one exemplary embodiment, the mechanisms of the present invention operate to write application file-specific table of contents (TOC) information to the contactless IC memory 14 on the LTO tape cartridge 12 as follows. In a first step, the owning application 22 closes a file in the file system 26 (represented by arrow 24) on the LTO tape media. The file system 26 then writes the index file 28 on the index partition of the storage media mounted on the target LTO tape drive 20, and the file body on the data partition of the same storage media. The target LTO drive 20 receives the index file and the file body in the data buffer 34, and then writes the index file and file body on the storage media (collectively represented by arrow 32).
As a next step, the data processor 42 accesses the index file data on the buffer 34 (represented by arrow 40). The data processor 42 then reads the table of contents (TOC) profile 38, which has been pre-recorded on the same LTO tape storage media (represented by arrow 38). The TOC profile 38 creation process will be further described, following. The data processor 42 then uses the TOC profile 38 as a filter for the index file information stored on the buffer 34 to create a table of contents for the file system 26. After the data processor 42 creates the table of contents, the data processor 42 sends the table of contents to the RF communication unit 46 (represented by arrow 44). The RF communication unit then writes the table of contents to the contactless IC memory 14 (represented by wireless signal arrow 48).
In an additional exemplary embodiment, the mechanisms of the present invention operate to verify consistency between file information as will be presently described. These verification mechanisms may occur pursuant to a triggering event, such as the insertion of an LTO tape cartridge 12 in the LTO tape drive 20 as one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate. Accordingly, subsequent to such an event, the data processor 42 reads the index file 28 from the index partition in the storage media on the LTO tape cartridge 12. The data processor 42 reads the TOC profile 38 from the same storage media (again, collectively represented by arrow 36), and creates the table of contents by parsing the index file with the TOC profile data as will be further explained. Once the table of contents obtained from the storage media is obtained/created, the version of the table of contents stored on the contactless IC memory 14 is obtained by the RF communication unit 46 (again, represented by arrows 48, 44). The table of contents from either and/or both the storage media, the contactless IC memory 14, and the index file information is cross-referenced for consistency. If an inconsistency is found, the table of contents read from the contactless IC memory 14 is refreshed with data from the index file 28 obtained from the storage media.
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An exemplary table of contents (TOC) profile file 54 is additionally shown. TOC profile file 54 is provided as an XML schema, again as one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate. TOC profile file 54 contains one or more TOC objects, as well as a number of TOC elements associated the TOC object(s). In one embodiment, the index file information 52 may be parsed using the TOC profile 54 to obtain/generate table of contents information (TOC) 56 as shown. The TOC information 56 includes such fields as file, filename, and modify time for each of the number of files in the index file data 52. The TOC information 56 is obtained from the index file data 52 and saved to the contactless IC memory as previously described.
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As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the above figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
While one or more embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in detail, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that modifications and adaptations to those embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12690170 | Jan 2010 | US |
| Child | 13476129 | US |
