Filter
Top Products
48 Using Special Features in Libraries
unload times are reduced, information is found on the tape more quickly and
fewer tape passes are needed, increasing tape reliability.
The memory is primarily designed to speed up internal operations in the
drive, but it also contains free space that can be used by application software.
Of the 4 kilobyte memory, about 1 kilobyte is free space. This may be used to
store “common” information (shared by all software vendors) and “vendor-
unique” information (specific to the application).
Hosts can use this free space using the SCSI Write Attribute and Read
Attribute commands. For information on these commands, see Chapter 4 of
The SCSI Interface, Volume 3 of this HP Ultrium Technical Reference Manual.
For more information on LTO-CM, see “LTO Cartridge Memory” in Chapter 5
of Background Information, Volume 6 of this HP Ultrium Technical Reference
Manual.
To support CM fully, software vendors should ensure that their company
names are registered with ANSI T10 or the National Committee for
Information Technology Standards (NCITS) as they are now known. The list of
Vendor IDs is displayed at http://www.t10.org/lists/vid-alph.htm, which
also contains details of how to get a new name assigned.
Cartridge Memory adheres to the Media Auxiliary Memory (MAM) standard.
“MAM” indicates that the access method applies to all types of media, not just
Ultrium.
The MAM standard provides for the storage and access of information held
as a set of pre-defined and user-definable attributes that are divided into six
main sections:
3
Media Common Section—hard-coded by the media manufacturer.
For example: manufacturer’s name, cartridge serial number, length,
media type
3
Drive Common Section—updated by the drive every time it accesses the
media.
For example: maximum and remaining tape capacity, TapeAlert flags
3
Host Common Section—updated by the host’s software application every
time it uses the media.
For example: software application vendor’s name and version, media text
label, date last written
3
Media Vendor Unique Section—optional information written by the media
vendor for their own purposes. Unique to the media vendor.