Support for WORM cartridges realized by linear tape file system (LTFS)

摘要

When a WORM cartridge is formatted for Tape File System (LTFS) in advance, such as prior to shipment, Linear Tape File System Library Edition (LTFS LE) is expanded by software to reduce consumption of the index partition and to support elimination of the appending of unnecessary data. More specifically, instead of recording metadata in the index partition during normal unmounting, the metadata is recorded in separate local storage such as on hard disk drive (HDD), and the index partition is updated only when the cartridge is ejected from the library. In this way, the present invention is able to significantly reduce the frequency of index partition updates. Because an update occurs only when the user intentionally ejects a cartridge, overflow of the index partition before overflow of the data partition can be prevented.