Network-attachable, file-accessible storage drive
View Patent ↗Storage drive logic and a standalone tape file structure are described. File transfer logic transfers file data to and from a network according to a first protocol. Media access logic accesses a sequential-access storage medium associated with the drive according to a second protocol. Media management logic translates file-based commands received from the network according to the first protocol into sequential-access device commands according to the second protocol. The device commands control accessing of data by the drive. The storage medium may be a magnetic tape including a data region for storing data in a file format, and a table of contents (TOC) region for storing a table of contents that indexes the locations of files within the data region.
1. A tape drive for operation on a network, the tape drive comprising:
file transfer logic encoded on a non-transitory medium operative, when executed, to cause a processor to transfer file data to and from the network according to a network file transfer protocol;
media access logic encoded on a non-transitory medium operative, when executed, to cause a processor to read and write data to a tape cartridge associated with the tape drive according to a storage device communication protocol, wherein the tape cartridge comprises magnetic tape with a plurality of linear tracks; and
media management logic encoded on a non-transitory medium operative, when executed, to cause the processor to translate file-based commands received by the file transfer logic from the network according to the file transfer protocol into sequential-access device commands according to the storage device communication protocol,
the media management logic is operative to cause the processor to, responsive to network file transfer protocol commands to store a file, write Table of Contents (TOC) data to a TOC region of the tape cartridge, the TOC data comprising data that indexes one or more files to physical data locations of the tape cartridge, and write file data corresponding to the one or more files to a payload region of the tape cartridge;
the media management logic is operable to cause the processor to store at least a portion of file metadata in a first region of the magnetic tape, and, if the file metadata is larger than the first region, store the remainder of the metadata in a second region of the magnetic tape, in which case the TOC data maintains a mapping of the metadata to the first region and the second region,
wherein the second region is after an end of existing data already stored on the magnetic tape, and
wherein the at least one file is formatted according to the MXF format.
2. The drive of claim 1 , wherein the network file transfer protocol comprises an Ethernet protocol, and the storage device communication protocol is SCSI.
3. The tape drive of claim 1 wherein the storage device communication protocol comprises a fiber channel interface.
4. The tape drive of claim 1 , wherein the tape cartridge further comprises memory and wherein the media management logic is operable to cause the processor to store file metadata corresponding to the one or more files in the TOC region on the tape cartridge, and to store a portion of the file metadata in memory.
5. The tape drive of claim 4 , wherein the media management logic is further operative to cause the processor to store second metadata related to the file metadata in the memory by:
storing the second metadata on the tape cartridge; and providing in the TOC region a pointer to the second metadata.
6. The tape drive of claim 1 , wherein the file transfer logic includes an FTP server.
7. The tape drive of claim 1 , wherein, the media management logic is operable to cause the processor to write TOC data corresponding to a first file to the tape cartridge after the data of the first file is written to the tape cartridge and before ejection of the tape cartridge.
8. The tape drive of claim 1 , wherein the media management logic is operable to cause the processor to write TOC data corresponding to the one or more files near the beginning of the magnetic tape without erasing existing data on the magnetic tape.
9. The tape drive of claim 1 , wherein the magnetic tape is formatted into at least one partition, each partition comprising at least one track pair of the plurality of linear tracks, and further wherein data within a partition not at the end of tape may be appended with other data received from the network, and the media management logic is operable to cause the processor to write the TOC data to a partition without erasing existing data in other partitions.
10. The tape drive of claim 9 , wherein the TOC region is located at the beginning of a first partition.
11. The tape drive of claim 1 , wherein at least one file is formatted according to the MXF format, and the data payload comprises video data.
12. The tape drive of claim 1 , wherein the metadata includes MXF-specific metadata and non-MXF-specific file metadata.
13. The tape drive of claim 1 , further comprising a random-access memory and wherein the media management logic is operable to cause the processor to store the TOC data in the memory of the tape cartridge.
14. The tape drive of claim 13 wherein the TOC data stored in the random access memory is available to users over the network via the file transfer logic for faster access.
15. The tape drive of claim 1 wherein the TOC data further comprises file directory information identifying a logical location of one or more files in a folder tree.
16. The tape drive of claim 15 wherein the TOC data, for each file of the one or more files, further comprises a file name.
17. The tape drive of claim 15 wherein the TOC data, for each file of the one or more files, further comprises a file name and a file size.
18. The tape drive of claim 15 wherein the TOC data, for at least one file of the one or more files, further comprises metadata extracted from the at least one file.
19. A method comprising:
transferring file data to and from a network according to a network file transfer protocol, wherein the file data corresponds to a plurality of files, each file comprising a data payload and metadata;
translating network file transfer protocol-based commands received from the network according to the network file transfer protocol into tape drive commands according to a storage device communication protocol, the tape drive commands for controlling reading and writing data on the tape cartridge;
storing, responsive to network file transfer protocol commands to store a file, Table of Contents (TOC) data to a TOC region of a tape cartridge, the TOC data comprising data that indexes one or more files to physical data locations of the tape cartridge, and write file data corresponding to the one or more files to a payload region of the tape cartridge; and
storing at least a portion of file metadata in a first region of the tape cartridge; and if the file metadata is larger than the first region, storing the remainder of the metadata in a second region of the tape cartridge, in which case the TOC data maintains a mapping of the file metadata to the first region and the second region,
wherein the second region is after an end of existing data already stored on the tape cartridge, and
wherein at least one file is formatted according to the MXF format.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the network file transfer protocol comprises an Ethernet protocol, and the storage device communication protocol is SCSI.
21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the storage device communication protocol comprises a fiber channel interface.
22. The method of claim 19 , further comprising storing the TOC data in a memory.
23. The method of claim 22 wherein the memory is a random access memory, and wherein the method further comprises making the random access memory available to users over the network via file transfer logic for faster access.
24. The method of claim 22 , wherein the memory is located in the tape cartridge.
25. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
selecting a portion of the data payload from the tape cartridge for transfer to the network, and modifying file metadata associated with the data payload to reflect characteristics of the selected portion of the data payload, so as to enable the transfer to the network of the selected portion of the data payload and the associated modified metadata.
26. The method of claim 19 , further comprising maintaining the TOC region near the beginning of the tape cartridge without erasing existing data on the tape cartridge as new files are stored on the tape cartridge.
27. The method of claim 19 , wherein the data payload comprises video data.
28. The method of claim 19 wherein the TOC data further comprises file directory information identifying a logical location of one or more files in a folder tree.
29. The method of claim 28 wherein the TOC data, for each file of the one or more files, further comprises a file name.
30. The method of claim 28 wherein the TOC data, for each file of the one or more files, further comprises a file name and a file size.
31. The method of claim 28 wherein the TOC data, for at least one file of the one or more files, further comprises metadata extracted from the at least one file.
32. A tape drive apparatus, comprising:
file transfer logic encoded on a non-transitory medium operative, when executed, to cause a processor to transfer file data according to a file transfer protocol, wherein the file data corresponds to a plurality of files;
media access logic encoded on a non-transitory medium operative, when executed, to cause a processor to read and write data to a tape cartridge associated with a tape drive according to a storage device communication protocol, wherein the tape cartridge comprises magnetic tape with a plurality of linear tracks; and
media management logic encoded on a non-transitory medium operative, when executed, to cause the processor to:
write the file data to the tape cartridge and Table of Contents (TOC) data to the tape cartridge, the TOC data comprising data that indexes one or more files of the plurality of files to physical data locations of the tape cartridge; and
store at least a portion of file metadata in a first region of the magnetic tape, and, if the file metadata is larger than the first region, store the remainder of the metadata in a second region of the magnetic tape, in which case the TOC data maintains a mapping of the metadata to the first region and the second region,
wherein the second region is after an end of existing data already stored on the magnetic tape, and
wherein the at least one file is formatted according to the MXF format.
33. The tape drive apparatus of claim 32 further comprising a memory and wherein the media management logic is further operative to cause the processor to write the TOC data to the memory.
34. The tape drive apparatus of claim 33 wherein the TOC data stored in the memory is available to users over the network via the file transfer logic for faster access.
35. The tape drive apparatus of claim 32 further comprising a tape drive.
36. The tape drive apparatus of claim 32 wherein the TOC data further comprises file directory information identifying a logical location of one or more files in a folder tree.
37. The tape drive apparatus of claim 36 wherein the TOC data, for each file of the one or more files, further comprises a file name.
38. The tape drive apparatus of claim 36 wherein the TOC data, for each file of the one or more files, further comprises a file name and a file size.
39. The tape drive apparatus of claim 36 wherein the TOC data, for at least one file of the one or more files, further comprises metadata extracted from the at least one file.
40. The tape drive apparatus of claim 32 wherein the TOC data is written near the beginning of the magnetic tape of the tape cartridge.
41. The tape drive apparatus of claim 32 wherein the TOC data is written near the end of the magnetic tape of the tape cartridge.
42. The tape drive apparatus of claim 32 wherein the file transfer protocol is a network file transfer protocol.